ERs Underdiagnosing Psychiatric Illness

ERs Underdiagnosing Psychiatric Illness

HealthDay News February 21, 2005

U.S. hospital emergency departments greatly underdiagnose psychiatric disorders, resulting in unnecessary suffering among patients, a new study finds.

Missing these diagnoses "is potentially the most damaging for the more vulnerable minorities and the poor, who rely on emergency departments for much of their primary health-care needs," the researchers wrote in the February issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Investigators from Louisiana State University examined records on more than 33,000 patients at three hospital emergency departments in the South and Midwest United States. Those facilities recorded an overall psychiatric disorder rate among patients of 5.27 percent -- far below the national rate of 20 percent to 28 percent. The researchers believe this points to large numbers of missed diagnoses.

Specific differences between national and emergency department rates include:

Mood disorders: 4 percent (national rate) vs. 0.7 percent (emergency department rate)

Anxiety: 11 percent to 16 percent vs. 1.19 percent

Substance use disorders: 7 percent vs. 2.05 percent

Schizophrenia: 1.30 percent vs. 0.32 percent.

"This underdiagnosing contributes to needless emotional suffering because many of the more common disorders, such as depression and anxiety, respond well to psychotherapy and pharmacological interventions," the authors noted.

Source: HealthDay News

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