[The pattern of attendance at a psychiatric clinic]

Over a three month investigation period, 1199 patients attended a psychiatric emergency-room. The sex ratio was 55.5% male/44.5% female, and the average age of the patients was 43.5 years. One-third of the patients had problems of alcohol abuse, one-third were psychotic and one-eighth were in a period of crisis. One-third of the visits resulted in an overnight stay in the emergency-room, and one-third were admitted to psychiatric hospital ward. Only 17% of the alcoholics were admitted to the psychiatric ward. Sixty-one percent of the long-term psychiatric patients were admitted, and only 13% left the emergency-room without any follow-up plan.