Table 2.
Results of section 136 assessments in two study areasa
| Measure | Ipswich |
Norwich |
Between-area difference, P |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre- | Post- | Within-area difference P |
Pre- | Post- | Within-area difference P |
Pre- | Post- | Total | |
| Section 136 assessments,b n (%) | 169 (77) | 104 (47) | 0.01c | 87 (36) | 93 (39) | 0.82c | <0.01 | 0.39 | 0.01 |
| Age, years: mean (s.d.) | 34.7 (13.3) | 37.5 (14.9) | 0.12d | 37.7 (14.0) | 37.7 (14.0) | 0.98d | 0.10d | 0.94d | 0.15d |
| Males, % | 58.0 | 51.0 | 0.26 | 47.6 | 52.7 | 0.50 | 0.12 | 0.80 | 0.30 |
| Contact with CMHS in past 2 weeks, n (%) | 82 (48.5) | 52 (50.0) | 0.53 | 52 (65.0) | 40 (44.0) | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.40 | 0.33 |
| Admitted, n (%) | 40 (23.7) | 39 (37.5) | 0.01 | 29 (33.3) | 22 (23.7) | 0.16 | 0.10 | 0.04 | 0.89 |
| Admitted under Mental Health Act, n (%) | 23 (57.5) | 23 (59.0) | 0.89 | 16 (55.2) | 17 (77.2) | 0.10 | 0.85 | 0.15 | 0.46 |
| Assessed during ‘presumed triage hours’, n (%) | 122 (72.2) | 72 (69.2) | 0.15e | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Admitted, n (%) | 31 (25.4) | 28 (38.9) | <0.01e | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Assessed and admitted in ‘non-triage hours’, n (%) | 9 (19.1) | 11 (34.4) | <0.01e | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| No mental illness following section 136 assessment, n (%) | 39 (23.1) | 15 (14.4) | 0.08 | 8 (9.2) | 25 (26.9) | <0.01 | 0.01 | 0.03 | <0.01 |
| Not admitted | |||||||||
| Offered follow-up by secondary MHS, n (%) | 94 (72.9) | 56 (86.2) | 0.04 | 42 (72.4) | 37 (52.1) | 0.02 | 0.95 | <0.01 | <0.01 |
| Attended first appointment, n (%) | 58 (61.7) | 50 (89.3) | <0.01 | 30 (71.4) | 27 (73.0) | 0.88 | 0.27 | 0.04 | 0.98 |
| ⩾1 further section 136 assessment in subsequent 4 weeks, n (%) |
27 (20.9) | 8 (12.3) | 0.14 | 14 (28.0) | 1 (1.4) | 0.01 | 0.62 | <0.01 | 0.12 |
CMHS, community mental health services; MHS, mental health services. Bold denotes significance.
a.
χ2 tests unless indicated otherwise.
b.
Per year per 100 000 population.
c.
Fisher's exact test for equality of two proportions using figures per 100 000 population per year.
d.
Two-sample t-test of difference of mean with null hypothesis of no difference.
e.
Fisher's exact test for equality of two proportions using the percentage figures.