[The psychiatric emergency in the general hospital: an analysis of the indications for hospitalization].

The following is a study of psychiatric emergencies in a General Hospital in Madrid (Spain). The Psychiatric Emergency Service of the Ramón y Cajal Hospital in Madrid received a total of 3,693 patients in 1988. This was 3.4% of patients seen in the General Emergency Service. The study is based on an analysis of the variables that influence a recommendation of hospitalization and their statistical significance. Hospitalization was recommended more frequently in males and those with diagnoses of depression, alcoholism and schizophrenic or paranoid disorders.