Young men's anxiety presentations to Australian ambulance services

Young men experiencing anxiety risk traversing traditional norms of masculinity, a tension that contributes to under-diagnosis - and, by extension, under-treatment. Within this context, young men frequently present to ambulance services with acute psychosomatic anxiety symptoms, implicating extensive, and resource exhaustive diagnostic tests to differentially diagnose and clinically manage potentially life-threatening conditions (i.e., myocardial infarction, dyspnoea, asthma, and stroke). This four-phase mixed-methods study developed and tested a coding framework to describe and interpret clusters within data from the Victorian arm of the Australian National Ambulance Surveillance System (NASS). Six hundred and ninety-four young men aged 15-25 years with an anxiety-related ambulance attendance in 2019 were analysed in the present analyses. Study findings revealed that the most common clinical characteristics in young men's anxiety presentations were psychosomatic symptoms, alcohol and drug use, and situational stressors. Three typologies for young men's anxiety presentations: 1) Psychosomatic-Anxiety, 2) Anxious-Substance Use and 3) Complex-Anxiety, were evident across severities. Findings highlight the need for tailored assessments to effectively triage young men experiencing anxiety and engage them with appropriate mental health services.