Methamphetamine Abuse Trends in Psychiatric Emergency Services: A Retrospective Analysis Using Big Data

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Public Health
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Methamphetamine use is a growing public health concern in the United States.
• Urban psychiatric emergency services (PES) are increasingly encountering patients with methamphetamine use disorders.
• Understanding the characteristics of this patient population is crucial for effective intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the demographic and hospital utilization patterns of patients presenting with methamphetamine use to an urban psychiatric emergency service.
• To identify trends in methamphetamine use over a five-year period.
• To inform the development of targeted interventions and policy recommendations.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study design utilizing de-identified data from a health system.
• Data extracted from patients presenting to the psychiatric emergency service between 2011 and 2015.
• Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were employed to characterize the population and assess relationships between methamphetamine use and demographics.

Main Results:

• Methamphetamine use demonstrated a faster increase compared to other drugs during the study period.
• Patients with methamphetamine use exhibited shorter psychiatric emergency service stays when their time in the PES exceeded 12 hours.
• Methamphetamine use was associated with specific demographic factors, warranting further investigation.

Conclusions:

• There is an increasing trend of individuals with methamphetamine use seeking emergency psychiatric evaluations.
• Methamphetamine use may disproportionately impact specific racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.
• Further research is needed to develop evidence-based interventions and policy recommendations to address the methamphetamine crisis.