Referral of Patients to Psychiatric Emergency Departments by Police: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: A significant number of patients in psychiatric emergency departments (PEDs) are brought in by police. The authors sought to identify the weighted global rate of police referrals to PEDs, to compare the characteristics of police-referred patients with those of patients not referred by police, and to assess possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on referral rates.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted by searching medical databases according to PRISMA guidelines. Multivariate and pairwise meta-regression analyses were performed.

Results: Overall, 1,374 articles were screened, and 34 samples comprising 542,143 patients (61,647 of whom were referred by police) from 28 articles were included. On average, 13.7% of PED admissions were referred by police, a rate that was higher in the United States (22.8%). Compared with patients not referred by police, police-referred patients were significantly more likely to show aggressive behavior (relative risk [RR]=4.73), to be homeless (RR=1.84), and to have a diagnosis of a substance use (RR=1.33) or psychotic (RR=1.45) disorder but were less likely to have depressive (RR=0.31) or adjustment (RR=0.58) disorders. Police-referred patients were also more likely to be admitted to inpatient care (RR=1.35) and involuntarily (RR=4.38). The pandemic had no apparent effect on police-referral rates to PEDs.

Conclusions: A substantial proportion of psychiatric patients is referred to PEDs by police. Police-referred patients had characteristics that were similar to those of incarcerated individuals with mental disorders. Early treatment may prevent later incarceration of police-referred PED patients. Interventions to reduce homelessness among psychiatric patients might help reduce police referrals to PEDs.