In our country and all over the world, suicide is a major public health problem, causing many prema- ture deaths. 703,000 people died in the world in 2019, as 1 out of every 100 (1.3%) deaths was by suicide. 1 The important thing is to guarantee medical and psychiatric safety in the emergency services, which are the first gateway to health care for suicide pa- tients. Turkiye Klinikleri J Med Sci. 2022;42(1):1-4 1 Decision-Making in Suicidal Attempt to Discharge from Emergency Department or to Consult Psychiatry: A Retrospective Study İntihar Girişimlerinde Acil Servisten Taburcu Etme veya Psikiyatri Konsültasyonuna Yönelik Karar Verme: Retrospektif Bir Çalışma Duygu EGE a , Kenan Ahmet TÜRKDOĞAN b , Çağdaş Öykü MEMİŞ c , Levent SEVİNÇOK c , Bilge DOĞAN c a Department of Emergency Medicine, Aydın Adnan Menderes University Practice and Research Hospital, Aydın, TURKIYE b Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Health Sciences Bağcılar Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, TURKIYE c Department of Psychiatry, Aydın Adnan Menderes University Practice and Research Hospital, Aydın, TURKIYE ABSTRACT Objective: The aim of this study is to shorten the period of hospitalization of the psychiatry patients in the emergency service and to reduce number of emergency psychiatric consultations. Material and Methods: Total 249 patients who admitted to the emergency service and evaluated by psychiatry because of suicide attempt were included in the study. The patients were scored in terms of feeling of regret, suicide method, history of previous suicidal attempt and presence of suicide fam- ily history. Following psychiatric consultations, the patients were divided to 2 groups as those who were considered for hospitalization (Group 1) and those who were recommended for outpatient psychiatry clinic control (Group 2). Results: Of the 249-psychiatry consultation, hospitalization was recommended to 94 (37.8%) patients, while outpatient psychiatry clinic control was recommended to 155 (62.2%). According to the scoring, it was found that psychiatric consultation was required in 152 (61.0%) pa- tients, while consultation was not necessary in 97 (39.0%) patients. When psychiatric examination notes were checked, a statistically significant dif- ference was found between Group 1 and 2 (p<0.001) and sensitivity was found to be 100%, while specificity was found as 62.5%, positive predic- tive value was found to be 61.8% and negative predictive value was found to be 100%. Conclusion: In our study group, we found that emergency psychiatric consultation rate may decrease 36.5% thus will be cost effec- tive and also decrease waiting time in emergency services. Keywords: Suicide; adult; emergency services, psychiatric ÖZET Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı, psikiyatri hastalarının acil ser- viste yatış sürelerini kısaltmak ve acil psikiyatri konsültasyonlarının sayısını azaltmaktır. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Çalışmaya, acil servise baş- vuran ve psikiyatri tarafından intihar girişimi nedeniyle değerlendirilen 249 hasta dâhil edildi. Hastalar; pişmanlık hissi, intihar yöntemi, önceki intihar girişimi öyküsü ve ailede intihar öyküsü varlığı açısından pu- anlandı. Psikiyatri konsültasyonu sonucuna göre yatışı düşünülen has- talar (Grup 1) ve poliklinik kontrolü önerilen hastalar (Grup 2) olarak 2 gruba ayrıldı. Bulgular: İki yüz kırk dokuz psikiyatri konsültasyo- nundan 94’üne (%37,8) yatış, 155’ine (%62,2) poliklinik kontrolü öne- rildi. Uygulanan puanlamaya göre 152 (%61,0) hastada psikiyatri konsültasyonu gerektiği, 97 (%39,0) hastada konsültasyona gerek ol- madığı belirlendi. Psikiyatrik muayene notlarına bakıldığında, 2 grup arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı farklılık (p<0,001) bulunmuş olup; duyarlılık %100, özgüllük %62,5, pozitif tahmin değeri %61,8 ve ne- gatif tahmin değeri %100 olarak bulundu. Sonuç: Acil psikiyatri kon- sültasyonları %36,5 oranında azalabilir ve böylece hem maliyet azaltılabilir hem de acil servislerde bekleme süresi kısaltılabilir. Anahtar Kelimeler: İntihar; erişkin; acil servisler, psikiyatrik ORİJİNAL ARAŞTIRMA ORIGINAL RESEARCH DOI: 10.5336/medsci.2021-82287 Correspondence: Duygu EGE Department of Emergency Medicine, Aydın Adnan Menderes University Practice and Research Hospital, Aydın, TURKIYE/TURKEY E-mail: duygu.ege.deu@hotmail.com Peer review under responsibility of Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Sciences. Received: 12 Feb 2021 Received in revised form: 09 Dec 2021 Accepted: 13 Jan 2022 Available online: 19 Jan 2022 2146-9040 / Copyright © 2022 by Türkiye Klinikleri. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Türkiye Klinikleri Tıp Bilimleri Dergisi Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Sciences