A study of psychiatric emergencies. 3. Findings on followup.

Criteria to measure the effectiveness of a psychiatric emergency consultation service include (1) whether or not the recommendations made were followed, and (2) the rate of hospitalizations in the followup period. Negro females were identified as following outpatient recommendations least often of any group. With this finding, the suitability of the classical recommendations available is discussed. The hospitalization rate for the psychiatric emergency group in the followup period is significantly higher than the national rate. This finding is independent of (1) hospitalizations effected at the time of the emergency evaluations and (2) psychiatric hospitalizations in the followup period. This result suggests that a large fraction of the psychiatric emergency population presents with extensive pathology which is not or cannot be dealt with in the context of the emergency consultation.