Five-Year Outcomes Following Psychiatric Consultation to a Tertiary Care Emergency Room

OBJECTIVE: The authors prospectively examined inpatient psychiatric hospitalization and mortality rates of psychiatric patients seen in the emergency room of a large Department of Veterans Affairs medical center. METHOD: Charts of 504 patients receiving evening psychiatric consultation during a 13-month period were assessed 5 years after the consultation to determine rates of psychiatric hospitalization and mortality. RESULTS: Patients with multiple psychiatric diagnoses, including comorbid addiction disorders, had significantly higher rates of psychiatric hospitalization 5 years after an emergency room visit. Comorbid psychiatric disorders increased the rate of inpatient psychiatric hospitalization across diagnoses. Seventy-eight patients died during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: These findings reveal relationships between diagnostic profiles and future psychiatric hospitalization and mortality rates. This information could focus psychiatric and medical interventions for high-risk patients.