Schizophrenia-related visits to the emergency department were twice as common among men than among women during 2009-2011, the National Center for Health Statistics reported.
Men aged 18-64 years had a rate of 26.5 schizophrenia-related ED visits per 10,000 persons, compared with 13.8 per 10,000 for women. The difference was even greater for those aged 18-29 years, with rates of 23.2 for men and 8.2 for women – almost a threefold difference – according to data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.
Combined rates rose for those aged 30-39 and 40-49 years, with men’s rates staying significantly higher than women’s – a trend that did not hold for those aged 50-64 years. In that age group, the rate for men dropped to 18.4 per 10,000, only slightly higher than the 15.3 per 10,000 among women, the NCHS noted.
The report showed that homeless people accounted for 7.5% of schizophrenia-related ED visits over the 3-year period, compared with 0.9% of all other ED visits. For those who lived in a private residence, the rates were 69.2% of all schizophrenia-related visits and 92.3% of all other visits.
For the period of 2009-2011, there was an annual average of 382,000 ED visits related to schizophrenia among adults aged 18-64, for an overall rate of 20.1 per 10,000. A visit was considered schizophrenia related if it had a first-, second-, or third-listed diagnosis of schizophrenia.