CLINICIAN’S CAPSULE
What is known about the topic?
Little is available in Canadian literature regarding emergency department (ED) use by mental health patients.
What did this study ask?
Is the number of mental health visits to the ED increasing? Are there differences in ED length of stay between mental health and non-mental health visits?
What did this study find?
The number of mental health visits to the ED is increasing, and mental health patients experience longer wait times in the ED.
Why does this study matter to clinicians?
It informs clinicians who work with mental health patients of current ED demand trends and wait times for patients whom they see.
Deyvison T. Baia Medeiros, Shoshana Hahn-Goldberg, Erin O’Connor and Dionne M. Aleman
Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine, 28 August 2018
