title: [Prevalence of mental disorders at emergency service].
abstract: Aiming to know the frequency of mental disorders among patients consulting a general hospital emergency ward, 2834 medical records of such patients were retrospectively reviewed. 8.4% of consultations were due to mental disorders. Sixty four percent of patients consulting for mental disorders were women. Anxiety disorders comprised 57.6% of consultations due to mental disorders and intoxications 7.6%. Eighty percent of the latter were consequence of suicidal attempts, being the most common method the use of benzodiazepines. A low percent of these patients were referred to psychiatry. The low frequency of psychiatric referrals and the importance of psychiatric advice in emergency rooms is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Unidad Docente Asociada de Psiquiatría, Escuela de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seguel
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nalegach
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Santander
mesh_terms: D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution
vernacular_title: Prevalencia de trastornos mentales en un servicio de urgencia.