Police and clinician diversion of people in mental health crisis from the Emergency Department: a trend analysis and cross comparison study

Table 1 Descriptive variables of people under section 10 in the six-month periods before and after the introduction of NPACER

Variable		May – Oct 2012 (N = 359)	Feb – July 2013 (N = 437)	p value
Gender (%)				0.28
	Female	134 (37)	171 (39)
	Male	225 (63)	266 (61)
Age (years)	Mean (SD)	33.2 (12.2)	34.4 (12.3)	0.17
Primary Diagnosis (%)				0.02*
	No diagnosis^a	75 (20.9)	50 (11.4)
	Situational crisis^b	69 (19.2)	100 (22.9)
	Psychotic illness^c	74 (20.6)	78 (17.9)
	Affective disorders^d	59 (16.4)	85 (19.5)
	Anxiety disorder^e	8 (2.2)	6 (1.4)
	Alcohol/drugs^f	7 (1.9)	33 (7.6)
	Intellectual disability^g	4 (1.1)	4 (0.9)
	Personality disorder^h	63 (17.6)	81 (18.5)
Initial pathway for assessment (%)				0.01
	ED	359 (100)	234 (54)
	Communityⁱ	0 (0)	133 (30)
	Police station	0 (0)	70 (16)
	Disposition^j (%)			0.01
	Community	179 (51.1)	281 (65.4)
	Police custody	25 (7.1)	12 (2.8)
	Mental health unit	141 (40.3)	133 (30.9)
	Missing	5 (1.4)	4 (0.9)

*p-value excludes those with no diagnosis
^aNo diagnosis – mental health assessment yet to be completed
^bSituational crisis – acute stress reaction, suicidal ideation/threat, post-traumatic stress disorder
^cPsychotic illness – schizophrenia spectrum disorders, drug induced psychosis
^dAffective disorders – depression, bipolar affective disorder
^eAnxiety disorder – social phobias, ruminations, obsessive compulsive disorder
^fAlcohol/drugs – ethanol, cannabis, methamphetamines
^gIntellectual disability – borderline intellectual functioning, learning disability, Aspergers Syndrome
^hPersonality Disorder – schizo-atypical, schizoid, anti-social, borderline, dependent, conduct disorder
ⁱCommunity – home, public place, general practitioner, psychologist, community mental health service, supported accommodation
^jWhere the person in crisis went after the section 10 event

ISSN: 1471-227X