Objective: This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the impact of introducing crisis intervention patterns in the emergency unit of a general hospital on the number of admissions and outpatient follow-ups for patients with major depressive disorder.
Method: The study included all patients with major depressive disorder (DSM-IV criteria) who visited the psychiatric emergency unit in a general hospital during two 8-month periods: before (425 patients) and after (436 patients) crisis interventions were introduced.
Results: After crisis interventions were introduced, the voluntary admission rate decreased significantly (from 17.9% to 12.4%), while the number of outpatient follow-ups increased (from 82.1% to 86.2%). Borderline personality disorder was associated with a significant reduction of the admission rate (27.8% against 38.2%), while the admission rate for patients with depressive disorder with psychotic features did not decline after crisis interventions. Crisis interventions were more effective on women.
Conclusions: These outcomes suggest the relevance of crisis intervention in psychiatric emergency settings to improve the management of patients with major depressive disorder. Crisis intervention fosters outpatient multimodal follow-up rather than admission in a psychiatric setting.