Is It Possible to Increase the Diagnosis Rates of Depression, Anxiety and Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders in Emergency Departments: A Prospective Study from Turkey?

Aim: Psychiatric disorders are common in society, particularly among patients in hospitals and emergency departments. Physicians may overlook psychiatric disorders. Improper diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders may have harmful effects on patients and society. Depression and anxiety may be present in emergency room patients, but prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are unknown. We aimed determine whether it is possible to increase the rates of diagnosis of depression, anxiety disorders and Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD), which are common in society, using psychiatric rating scales for patients.

Materials and Methods: Sociodemographic data form, Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Self-Report Scale and Emergency Department Patient Satisfaction Survey were administered to randomly selected patients on randomly selected days over a 3-month period. Diagnoses in the hospital records and scale cutoff scores were compared.

Results: Depression was identified in 99 patients, anxiety disorder in 21, and ADHD in 11 of 223 patients. With these scales, the diagnosis rates of depression, anxiety, and ADHD increased from 0% to 49%, 25.2%, and 5.4%, respectively.

Conclusion: Scales that can be filled out by patients in emergency departments are useful for diagnosing psychiatric disorders. With the help of these scales, with a psychiatric assessment rates of diagnosis and treatment could be increased. We may expect personal, social, and economic improvement with an increase of diagnosis and treatment rates.