The severity of a patient's mental health condition may be linked to increased emergency department use, according to a study published in Jama Network Open.
Researchers conducted a retrospective case-control analysis of more than 3.4 million patients who presented at an ED in California in 2013, looking at past ED use to predict future ED visits. Researchers examined more than 7.6 million ED visits between Jan. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2014, using data from California's Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
They found the average number of annual ED visits per patient was 1.69. About 29 percent of patients had at least one mental health diagnosis. A severe mental health diagnosis was linked to a 22.6 percent increase in ED use, compared to a 12.1 percent jump for a moderate mental health diagnosis and a 2.9 percent increase for a mild mental health diagnosis.
Researchers also found previous hospitalizations and high rates of lagged ED visits were linked to higher ED use. However, they found little evidence mental health conditions interacted with other diagnoses to boost ED use.
"The locus of factors associated with ED use, while not necessarily causal in our analysis, suggest that prior patient visit patterns and patient illness severity could be important contributors to increased ED use," the authors concluded.
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