Mental Health-Related Emergency Department Visits in Adolescents Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multicentric Retrospective Study.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to compare pre/post-COVID-19 changes in mental health-related emergency department visits among adolescents.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective analysis of all mental health-related emergency department visits in two large tertiary pediatric hospital centers between January 2018 and December 2020. We described monthly pre/post-COVID-19 changes in frequency and proportion of mental health visits as well as changes in hospitalization rates for eating disorders, suicidality, substance use, and other mental health conditions.

Results

We found an increase in the proportion of mental health-related emergency department visits during the months of July-December 2020 (p < .01). There was a 62% increase in eating disorder visits between

SUBMITTER: Chadi N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8421028 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature