A Study of Psychiatric Emergencies: Part I. Demographic Data

Psychiatric emergency evaluation and treatment are an increasingly important part of current psychiatric practice. Psychiatry residency training has been affected accordingly. Of particular importance has been the need to characterize the emergency population seen and to describe the changes in this population over time. At University Hospitals of Cleveland over the past nine years the psychiatric emergency population has doubled. There has also been a shift to a younger age group, evidence of better motivation, reduced incidence of hospitalization, and increased use of medications. At this hospital, Negro females constituted the largest group and contained the highest percentage of patients receiving medications. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed.