Psychiatric diagnoses in prehospital emergency care and sociodemographic characteristics of the incident location at the district level

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in prehospital emergency care and the characteristics of this patient group as well as the association with deprivation in the district, self-assessment of health status, and the frequency of emergency calls due to or accompanied by psychiatric diagnoses. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study descriptively and analytically evaluated all ground-based Emergency Medical Service and rescue service incidents dispatched by the Integrated Regional Control Center (IRLS) in the period from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. In addition to the clinical parameters and the demographic data of the patients, the sociodemographic characteristics of the incident location at the district level, unemployment rate, net equivalent household income, and the proportion of single-person households, as well as personal assessment of mental health and overall well-being, were included in the study. Results: A total of 68,345 deployment protocols were examined. Of these, 6.4% were emergency incidents due to or involving psychiatric diagnoses. Emergency physician (EP) involvement in these operations was 56.1%. RM Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use (1968) was used as a theoretical reference model for the description, analysis, and explanation of the use of health-related care. The analyses showed that interventions due to or involving psychiatric diagnoses without emergency doctor alerts were more frequent in urban districts with a high proportion of single-person households and a high net equivalized houshold income. Conclusion: The accumulation in individual city districts and the factors identified by Andersen point to opportunities to target preventive measures to avoid emergencies involving psychiatric diagnoses in order to use limited resources efficiently.