Pediatric Mental Health Boarding in US Emergency Departments, 2018-2022.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Children awaiting psychiatric hospitalization in the emergency department (ED) may experience prolonged boarding when no appropriate bed is available. Many recent studies of pediatric mental health boarding have focused on children's hospitals. Thus, we aimed to determine characteristics associated with boarding among pediatric mental health ED visits in a nationally representative sample.

Methods

This retrospective cross-sectional study examined mental health ED visits by children 5 to 17 years old using the 2018-2022 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, which uses probability sampling to generate national estimates. Survey-weighted multivariable logistic regression examined the association between visit characteristics and boarding, defined as visit

SUBMITTER: Hoffmann JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12159435 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature