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Citation |
Brakoulias V, Mandali R, Seymour J, Sammut P, Starcevic V. Australas. Psychiatry 2010; 18(4): 326-329. |
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Affiliation |
Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School - Nepean, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2010, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Publisher SAGE Publishing) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
20645898 |
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Abstract |
Objective: The Psychiatric Emergency Care Centre (PECC) is a relatively recent service development that aims to improve emergency care of psychiatric patients. The goal of this paper was to report on the characteristics of admissions to a recently established PECC. Method: Several key characteristics of admissions to the PECC were documented for each of 376 patients in the first 6 months of its operation. These characteristics were then compared to the characteristics of admissions of 299 patients in the 'virtual' PECC (a PECC within the general emergency department) in the 6 months prior to the opening of the PECC. Results: The most common presenting symptom in the PECC was suicidal ideation (47.6%, n = 179) and the most frequent diagnosis made in the PECC was adjustment disorder (35.9%, n = 135). When comparing admissions to the 'virtual' PECC, PECC admissions were characterized by a significantly less frequent use of physical restraint and haloperidol and midazolam as pro re nata (prn) medications. Conclusions: Although further study is needed, one possible advantage of the PECC may be a less frequent use of physical restraint and certain prn medications (i.e. haloperidol and midazolam) for agitated and aggressive patients. Language: en |