Epidemiological studies of emergency room (ER) psychiatric settings can help monitor unmet needs and improve the quality of care.

To characterize the patients presenting to emergency department with psychiatric complaints in a medium sized health centre in oil sands region of the Northern Alberta.

Information on a data assessment tool designed to capture all relevant demographic and clinical characteristics of psychiatric patients in the ER was compiled as part of a clinical audit process.

Overall, 477 patients were assessed by the psychiatric team over the 12 month period, comprising 230 (48.2%) males and 247 (51.8%) females. There was a fairly balanced distribution by age, ethnic background, and relationship status between the male and female patients. The majority of patients with a history of self-harm or childhood sexual abuse were female while male patients were significantly more likely to report medication non-compliance. A higher proportion of the female patients had depressive disorders and personality disorders while a higher proportion of male patients had anxiety disorders, bipolar and related disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and substance-related disorders. Approximately half of all the patients had an impaired clinical insight. Majority of the patients had a GAF score of 70 or less. Nearly one in five patients were admitted for inpatient treatment with a significantly higher proportion of male patients being admitted involuntarily.

There are sex-specific differences in many of the demographic and clinical measures collected in our ER psychiatric sample.