Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39450423›Full record

ArticleEmergency medicine Australasia : EMA2025

The use and impact of pathology tests in emergency department patients with mental health-related complaints: A cross sectional study.

Daniel Brouillard, Geoffrey Melville, Mary K Lam, Jessie Woods, James Martoo, Gabrielle Wilkie, Hughes Makoni, Ataur Rahman, Emezie Odigboh, Thomas Carrigan and 3 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Daniel BrouillardEmergency Department, Wollongong Hospital, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Warrawong, New South Wales, Australia.
Geoffrey MelvilleEmergency Department, Wollongong Hospital, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Warrawong, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-2819-6853
Mary K LamSchool of Health and Biomedical Sciences, STEM college, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Jessie WoodsSchool of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
James MartooSchool of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
Gabrielle WilkieEmergency Department, Wollongong Hospital, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Warrawong, New South Wales, Australia.
Hughes MakoniEmergency Department, Wollongong Hospital, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Warrawong, New South Wales, Australia.
Ataur RahmanEmergency Department, Wollongong Hospital, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Warrawong, New South Wales, Australia.
Emezie OdigbohEmergency Department, Wollongong Hospital, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Warrawong, New South Wales, Australia.
Thomas CarriganEmergency Department, Wollongong Hospital, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Warrawong, New South Wales, Australia.
Simon BinksEmergency Department, Wollongong Hospital, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Warrawong, New South Wales, Australia.
Naomi FieldingEmergency Department, Wollongong Hospital, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Warrawong, New South Wales, Australia.
Kate CurtisEmergency Department, Wollongong Hospital, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Warrawong, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-3746-0348

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo evaluate the use and impact of pathology tests in patients who present to the ED with mental health-related complaints. The primary objective is to measure the proportion of patients undergoing pathology tests and assess whether these tests trigger a change in management.

methodsIn this retrospective study, we reviewed all recorded mental health presentations to our regional ED between January and June 2021. Patient characteristics, pathology tests, subsequent change in management, treatment costs and time to Emergency Physician and Psychiatrist were extracted. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis were used to explore associations between variables of interest, ED length of stay (LOS) and change in management.

resultsOf 37 900 ED visits, 1462 (3.9%) were mental health-related presentations. Pathology tests were conducted in 47.7% of cases, with 3% leading to a change in management. Pathology tests were associated with increased treatment costs (45% increase for blood tests, 17% for urine), and increased ED LOS (48%). Patients with coexisting medical conditions were three times more likely to have a change in management.

conclusionPathology tests should be reserved for patients with high-risk features and based on clinical assessment. Strategic use of pathology tests could avoid unnecessary delays and costs, enhancing patient care in mental health-related ED presentations.

Indexed as

Emergency Service, HospitalMental DisordersAdolescentAdultAgedCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansLength of StayMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective Studiesclinical assessmentemergencymental healthtreatment costs

Identifiers

PMID39450423
PMCPMC11744406

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.