Mental Health Symptom Screening Among Adult Emergency Department Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Psychiatry
• Public Health

Background:

• Mental health symptoms significantly impact healthcare outcomes and utilization.
• Emergency departments (EDs) frequently encounter patients with mental health conditions, yet routine screening is inconsistent.
• Unrecognized mental health issues in EDs can lead to poorer patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in adult ED patients.
• To utilize validated screening tools for assessing mental health conditions in a non-crisis setting.
• To describe the demographic characteristics and social determinants of health within the study sample.

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from 1305 adult patients across 3 urban academic EDs.
• Employed validated survey instruments: PROMIS Anxiety Short Form 8a, Emotional Distress Depression Short Form 8a, and Primary Care PTSD Short Form.
• Primary outcome measured was the proportion of patients screening positive for elevated mental health symptoms.

Main Results:

• Over half of ED patients (54.1%) screened positive for at least one mental health condition.
• Prevalence rates: anxiety (46.9%), depression (36.8%), and PTSD (21.9%).
• More than one-third (36.6%) screened positive for two or more conditions, indicating a significant mental health burden.

Conclusions:

• A substantial proportion of emergency department patients exhibit elevated symptoms of common mental health conditions.
• Findings highlight the need for systematic, brief mental health screening in EDs.
• Implementing screening can facilitate the identification of patients needing mental health resources and interventions.