ArticleJournal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open2026
Mental Health Symptom Screening Among Adult Emergency Department Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Article in Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Constructive Appraisal of "Mental Health Symptom Screening Among Adult Emergency Department Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study".Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Objectives: Mental health symptoms profoundly influence healthcare outcomes and utilization. Although mental health conditions are common in emergency department (ED) patients, routine, noncrisis screening is not consistently implemented; thus, problems may go unrecognized outside of psychiatric crisis presentations. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of current symptoms of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among ED patients using validated screening tools. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from 1305 randomly selected, adult patients from 3 urban, academic EDs. Validated survey instruments included (i) Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Anxiety Short Form 8a, (ii) Emotional Distress Depression Short Form 8a, and (iii) Primary Care PTSD Short Form. The primary outcome was the proportion of ED patients screening positive for elevated symptoms. We also describe the demographic characteristics of the sample and select social determinants of health. Results: Participants had a median age of 48 years (IQR, 32-59); 53.1% were female and 49.0% were White. Socioeconomic challenges were common, with 57.2% unemployed and 45.5% reported annual income below $35,000. Overall, 706/1305 (54.1%, 95% CI, 51.4-56.8) screened positive for elevated symptoms for at least 1 mental health condition: anxiety 46.9% ( Conclusion: Over half of ED patients screened positive for elevated symptoms. These findings underscore the epidemiologic burden of mental health symptoms in the ED and highlight the potential value of further research into brief, systematic screening during ED visits to identify and connect patients with appropriate mental health resources.
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