PSYCHIATRIC EMERGENCIES AT A UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL IN EASTERN SAUDI ARABIA

BACKGROUND: This is a study of psychiatric presentations to an Accident and Emer-gency (A & E) Department of a Saudi general teaching hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Consecutive series of psychiatric presentations over 6 months to the A & E Department of a general teaching hospital at Al-Khobar, East-ern Saudi Arabia, were prospectively investigated. Diagnoses were made according to ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders. RESULTS: There were 273 visits, accounted for by 182 index subjects and 37 subjects who made 91 repeat visits (33.3%). The age range of the index group was 5 to 82 years, with 75% below 38 years of age. The majority of the index group (78%) and repeaters (97.3%) were Saudi. Most index subjects (52.7%) were married, but only 40.5% of repeaters were so. Family was the predominant source of referral of both index (53.8%) and repeat visits (60%). Mood disorders were the commonest diagno-ses at both index (31.7%) and repeat visits (39.6%). Most index subjects (57.7%) and repeated visits (56%) were managed at the A &E Department and given psychiatric outpatient appointment. Just over one-fifth (22%) of the index subjects and a little over a quarter (25.3%) of repeated visits were admitted to the psychiatric ward, Mood Disorders being predominant among both. CONCLUSION: Adequate psychiatric training of primary health care physicians and the establishment of crisis intervention community psychiatric services are advocated.