Addressing Suicide Risk in Emergency Department Patients
- Autores: David Hoyer
- Localización: JAMA: the journal of the American Medical Association, ISSN 0098-7484, Vol. 312, Nº. 3, 2014, págs. 297-298
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
-
Resumen
In their Viewpoint, Dr Olfson and colleagues1 called for “enhanced training of emergency physicians in the management of suicidal patients and patients with deliberate self-harm” due to the “shortages of mental health specialists in emergency medical settings.” Studies show that 1 in 5 emergency department patients may be depressed, yet the diagnosis is often missed for a variety of reasons including that patients do not complain of depression but of somatic depression symptoms.2 Similarly, overt suicidal behavior accounts for 0.6% of emergency department visits but the incidental suicidal ideation that is found in 3% to 11.6% of visits is often missed.3 There are 130 million patient visits to emergency departments each year, so there is much room for improvement.4
