ArticleAustralasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists2023
Patients languishing in emergency departments: A descriptive analysis of mental health-related emergency department presentations in Australia between 2016-17 and 2020-21.
Article in Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Experiences of individuals presenting to the emergency department for mental health reasons: A systematic mixed studies review.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Improving the time-efficiency of initial mental health assessment (triaging) using an online assessment tool followed by a clinical interview via phone: a randomised controlled trial.BMC psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Models of Care for Mental Health Nurse Practitioners in Emergency Department Settings: A Scoping Review Across High-Income Countries.International journal of mental health nursing · 2026Article
- Consumer Perspectives on a Consumer-led Short-stay Crisis Stabilisation Unit (CSU) as an Alternative to Emergency Departments for the Treatment of Acute Mental Health Crises.Community mental health journal · 2026Article
- Do older patients with mental health presentations stay in the emergency department longer than younger patients? - A retrospective study.Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists · 2026Article
- Emergency Department Presentations for Mental Health Crisis: Comparing ED-Only Care With Transfer to a Crisis Stabilisation Unit.International journal of mental health nursing · 2026Article
- "I finally found a place where I could have some safety": A mixed-methods evaluation of non-clinical safe spaces for emotional distress and/or suicidal crisis.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Are EDs the Only Option? Hospital-Based Alternatives to the Emergency Department for Mental Health Crises: A Scoping Review.International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Article
- Physical multimorbidity, concurrent psychiatric morbidity, and emergency department presentation among adults released from prison: a prospective cohort study from Queensland, Australia.Health & justice · 2025Article
- Exploring the reliability and profile of frequent mental health presentations using different methods: An observational study using statewide ambulance data over a 4-year period.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2025Observational
- Exploring the lived experience of receiving mental health crisis care at emergency departments, crisis phone lines and crisis care alternatives.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveIn the context of concerns regarding hospital access block, this paper provides a descriptive longitudinal analysis of mental health-related ED episodes in Australian public hospitals between 2016-17 and 2020-21.
methodWe descriptively analysed Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data for mental health-related ED presentations, outcomes and 5-year trends for Australian public hospitals.
resultsThere were more than 300,000 Australian mental health-related ED presentations in 2020-21. Presentations increased by an average annual rate of 2.8% between 2016-17 and 2020-21, commonly involving first responder (police, paramedic) attendance. From 2016-17 to 2020-21, the average annual rate of mental health-related ED presentations receiving a triage category of resuscitation increased by 13.7%, emergency by 9.4% and urgent by 4.7%. 90% of MH-related ED presentations were completed within 14 h, which was longer than the 90
conclusionsCurrent mental health policies have not stemmed the rising tide of ED presentations. Mental health-related ED presentations are increasing in number and severity, likely due to health systemic and societal factors. Psychiatry patients stay longer in EDs than other patients. Healthcare reforms should be targeted to provide the best outcome based on principles of equity of access.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.