A crisis triage rating scale. Brief dispositional assessment of patients at risk for hospitalization.

The authors have developed a brief rating scale to expedite the rapid screening of emergency psychiatric patients who require hospital admission from those who are suitable for outpatient crisis intervention treatment. The interviewers used this scale to assess and score the patient rapidly on the basis of three factors: dangerousness, support system, and motivation or ability to cooperate. The authors report on and discuss the use of the scale in a preliminary study of 300 cases and in a prospective study of 122 patients who were followed for 6 months after they were evaluated. They found that those who scored below a median point on the scale required hospitalization and those who scored higher were suitable for crisis intervention as outpatients.