Abstract
It has been reported that some psychiatric disorders show seasonal remission/exacerbation. In particular, seasonal variations of mood disorder are commonly known. Several studies have presented data on seasonal variations in patients attempting suicide and inpatients. However, studies regarding patients who consulted emergency outpatient units have not been adequately conducted. We investigated 3,877 patients who consulted the Department of Emergency/Intensive Care, Shiga Medical University Hospital between September 2005 and August 2006 (including 2,066 who were brought by ambulance). Of these, 299 patients (7.7%) had psychiatric disorders. In 158 patients, the disease category was evaluated as F4 (neurotic, stress-related, and somatoform disorders), showing the highest percentage. The number of patients who consulted our department with psychiatric disorders reached a peak in June to July and September to October, and was the lowest in January. There was no association between the number of these patients and day length/precipitation. However, the number of patients who consulted our department with psychiatric disorders increased with a rise in the atmospheric temperature. These results clarified the characteristics of psychiatric disorder patients who consulted the emergency outpatient unit, and may contribute to the early detection of psychiatric disorders in this unit in the future.
