Recidivism and resource use by mental health patients in the emergency room

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Mental health recidivism in the Emergency Room (ER) ties into the revolving door phenomenon, as many patients with prior visits to the emergency room tend to make this a frequent pattern (Dhossche & Ghani, 1998). The ER is often the entry point of mental health patients into the mental health care process and many studies have shown that there are various circumstances that lead to mental health recidivism (Arfken et al., 2004). This patient population requires complex interventions before effective treatment can be assessed (Andrew Kolbasovsky, Reich, & Futterman, 2007). The objective of this study is to use statistical analysis to identify important predictors of recidivism in our patient population and also to increase the awareness on mental health recidivism in the emergency room. This study explores this objective by using sequential steps of descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze the patient population and identify the most significant factors. The study then proceeds to make recommendations on how resources can be adjusted to cater to this category of patients.