Administrative update: utilization of services. III. Factors affecting emergency service utilization at a rural community mental health center

Various factors may contribute to cyclical fluctuations in mental health emergency service utilization. Information regarding service utilization patterns would assist the planning and administration of such programs. Five years of data on emergency service contacts at a rural community mental healt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Community mental health journal 1998-04, Vol.34 (2), p.157-163
Main Authors: Sobel, S N, Anisman, S, Hamdy, H I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Child
Children & youth
Community centers
Community Health Centers - utilization
Community mental health services
Confidence intervals
Emergency Medical Services - utilization
Emergency services
Female
Holidays & special occasions
Humans
Male
Mental health
Mental health care
Mental Health Services - utilization
Nonparametric statistics
Psychopathology
Rain
Retrospective Studies
Rural areas
Rural Health Services - utilization
Seasons
Snow
Suicides & suicide attempts
Time Factors
Use
Vacations
Vermont
Weather
White people
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Summary:Various factors may contribute to cyclical fluctuations in mental health emergency service utilization. Information regarding service utilization patterns would assist the planning and administration of such programs. Five years of data on emergency service contacts at a rural community mental health center were analyzed retrospectively in order to clarify which of an array of potential factors actually affect the utilization of emergency services. One way analyses of variance (ANOVA) or analogous nonparametric tests were performed. Furthermore analyses of significant group differences were performed by means of multiple comparison tests and confidence intervals. Significant associations with number of emergency contacts were found for season, day of week, holidays, school vacations and weather conditions. This study helps to elucidate those factors affecting psychiatric emergency service utilization at a rural community mental health center. Such factors may differ from those affecting other indicators of psychopathology.
ISSN:0010-3853
1573-2789
DOI:10.1023/A:1018741018669