• Bahram Armoon, Zhirong Cao, Guy Grenier, Xiangfei Meng, and Marie-Josée Fleury.
• Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Research Centre, 6875 LaSalle Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec H4H 1R3, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, 33 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1A1, Canada.
• Am J Emerg Med. 2022 Apr 1; 54: 131-141.

BackgroundThis study aimed to (1) identify profiles of high emergency department (ED) users (3+ visits/year) among 5409 patients with mental disorders (MD) based on their patterns of ED use and clinical characteristics; (2) identify sociodemographic and service use correlates linked to high ED user profiles; and (3) assess risks of death in a 12-month follow-up period, controlling for sex and age.MethodsUsing varied medico-administrative databases, this 5-year study collected patient data for six Quebec (Canada) ED. Latent class analysis was used to distinguish profiles of high ED users for a 3-year period, while bivariate analyses subsequently assessed associations between high ED user profiles and sociodemographic and service use correlates. Survival analysis were also applied to examine relationships between profile memberships of high ED users and risk of death in the 12 months following period of high ED use.ResultsThree profiles of high ED use were identified, Profile 1: 3-year recurrent very high ED users (10+ ED visits/year), Profile 2: 2-year recurrent high ED users, and Profile 3: 1-year high ED users. Profiles differed according to severity of health conditions, intensity of service use, particularly frequent hospitalizations, and risk of death: high in Profile 1, moderate in Profile 2, and low in Profile 3. Compared to 1-year high ED users, 3-year recurrent very high ED users and 2-year recurrent high ED users had poorer health and higher risk of death.ConclusionsMore targeted interventions may be improved for especially recurrent high ED users and recurrent very high ED use.Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

12 keywords...

hide…