Table 1.
Emergency department visits for mental and substance use disorders in British Columbia (2017/2018) by individual characteristics and discharge diagnosis
| Mood and anxiety | Substance use | Schizophrenia spectrum | PTSD and adjustment | Other mental | Total | |||||||
| Total Visits, n (%) | 47 881 | (35.7%) | 49 164 | (36.7%) | 10 219 | (7.6%) | 7236 | (5.4%) | 19 563 | (14.6%) | 134 063 | (100.0%) |
| Sex | ||||||||||||
| Female | 26 775 | (55.9%) | 15 865 | (32.3%) | 3585 | (35.1%) | 3896 | (53.8%) | 9720 | (49.7%) | 59 841 | (44.6%) |
| Male | 21 106 | (44.1%) | 33 299 | (67.7%) | 6634 | (64.9%) | 3340 | (46.2%) | 9838 | (50.3%) | 74 217 | (55.4%) |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | ||||||
| Age | ||||||||||||
| 15–24 | 12 430 | (26.0%) | 7582 | (15.4%) | 1526 | (14.9%) | 2183 | (30.2%) | 3019 | (15.4%) | 26 740 | (19.9%) |
| 25–44 | 17 740 | (37.1%) | 22 142 | (45.0%) | 4899 | (47.9%) | 2596 | (35.9%) | 5076 | (25.9%) | 52 453 | (39.1%) |
| 45–64 | 11 922 | (24.9%) | 16 328 | (33.2%) | 3069 | (30.0%) | 1734 | (24.0%) | 3790 | (19.4%) | 36 843 | (27.5%) |
| 65+ | 5789 | (12.1%) | 3112 | (6.3%) | 725 | (7.1%) | 723 | (10.0%) | 7678 | (39.2%) | 18 027 | (13.4%) |
| Health Authority (rate per 1000 population) | ||||||||||||
| Interior | 8684 | (13.3) | 10 124 | (15.5) | 918 | (1.4) | 1435 | (2.2) | 2683 | (4.1) | 23 844 | (36.5) |
| Fraser | 18 948 | (12.6) | 16 812 | (11.2) | 4759 | (3.2) | 2665 | (1.8) | 7518 | (5.0) | 50 702 | (33.7) |
| Vancouver Coastal | 7479 | (7.2) | 11 252 | (10.8) | 3019 | (2.9) | 997 | (1.0) | 4740 | (4.5) | 27 487 | (26.4) |
| Island | 8412 | (12.2) | 7219 | (10.5) | 1045 | (1.5) | 1275 | (1.9) | 3613 | (5.2) | 21 564 | (31.3) |
| Northern | 4315 | (18.9) | 3638 | (16.0) | 457 | (2.0) | 862 | (3.8) | 989 | (4.3) | 10 261 | (45.1) |
| Missing HA | 43 | 119 | 21 | 20 | 205 | |||||||
| Income quintile (rate per 1000 population) | ||||||||||||
| Q1 (lowest) | 13 113 | (14.7) | 17 818 | (20.0) | 3972 | (4.5) | 2122 | (2.4) | 5979 | (6.7) | 43 004 | (48.2) |
| Q2 | 10 048 | (13.2) | 10 124 | (13.3) | 2185 | (2.9) | 1619 | (2.1) | 3995 | (5.2) | 27 971 | (36.7) |
| Q3 | 8988 | (11.3) | 7732 | (9.8) | 1602 | (2.0) | 1277 | (1.6) | 3536 | (4.5) | 23 135 | (29.2) |
| Q4 | 8237 | (10.0) | 6992 | (8.5) | 1251 | (1.5) | 1155 | (1.4) | 3130 | (3.8) | 20 765 | (25.1) |
| Q5 (highest) | 6786 | (8.0) | 4944 | (5.8) | 985 | (1.2) | 907 | (1.1) | 2539 | (3.0) | 16 161 | (19.1) |
| Missing Income | 709 | 1554 | 224 | 156 | 384 | 3027 | ||||||
| Comorbidities | ||||||||||||
| Charlson-Deyo Weighted Index (mean, SD) | 0.7 | ±1.5 | 0.8 | ±1.7 | 0.7 | ±1.5 | 0.7 | ±1.5 | 1.7 | ±2.4 | 0.9 | ±1.8 |
| No Charlson-Deyo diagnoses | 33 139 | (69.2%) | 32 239 | (65.6%) | 6558 | (64.2%) | 5084 | (70.3%) | 8253 | (42.2%) | 85 273 | (63.6%) |
| Service use before and after ED | ||||||||||||
| MSUD primary care visit within preceding 30 days | 13 764 | (28.7%) | 13 387 | (27.2%) | 2226 | (21.8%) | 1695 | (23.4%) | 4554 | (23.3%) | 35 626 | (26.6%) |
| MSUD primary care visit on same day as ED visit | 3252 | (6.8%) | 2890 | (5.9%) | 520 | (5.1%) | 384 | (5.3%) | 1172 | (6.0%) | 8218 | (6.1%) |
| Hospital admission on same or next day | 10 188 | (21.3%) | 6428 | (13.1%) | 4531 | (44.3%) | 1474 | (20.4%) | 7634 | (39.0%) | 30 255 | (22.6%) |
| Involuntary admission on same or next day | 6464 | (13.5%) | 2093 | (4.3%) | 3767 | (36.9%) | 749 | (10.4%) | 3239 | (16.6%) | 16 312 | (12.2%) |
ED, emergency department; HA, health authority; MSUD, mental and substance use disorder; PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.