The study examined characteristics of patients referred by police to a
psychiatric emergency unit on the campus of a 400-bed psychiatric hospital
in Adelaide, South Australia. Of all police referrals (N = 634) during a
21-month period, 437 cases were admitted to the hospital. Most police
referrals were young, single, unemployed men. In a subsample of 61
patients, 72 percent had previous psychiatric admissions and 39 percent had
been previously referred by police. Compared with nonpsychotic subjects,
psychotic subjects used more mental health resources, had a longer index
admission, and after the index discharge relapsed more rapidly and spent
more days in the hospital.
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