Publication: The impact of the covid-19 pandemic on pediatric mental health emergency
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Date
2023-01-01
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Abstract
© 2023, AVES. All rights reserved.Objective: The aim of this study was to compare pre/post-coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic changes in mental health-related visits to the pediatric emergency department. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all mental health-related pediatric emergency department visits to a tertiary general hospital between June and September 2019, 2020, and 2021. We described pre/post-coronavirus disease 2019 changes in the use of pediatric emergency departments, such as timing of visits, sex discrepancies, diag-nostic distribution, discharge planning, and others. Results: Compared with the corresponding months before the pandemic (n = 187), mental health-related pediatric emergency department visits decreased by 20.8% in June–September 2020 (n = 148) and increased by 12.2% in 2021 (n = 210). The distributions of age, sex, timing of visits, reasons for presentations, hospitalization, and outpatient clinic appointment rates were not statistically significant between the years. Self-harm in females and aggression/violence in males were the most common reasons for presentation to pediatric emergency departments in each year. In the post-pandemic period, ambulance use and patients referred by other hospitals for psychiatric consultation increased, while the completion time of consultations decreased (P <.05). The frequency of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression decreased, but obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorders were more common in the post-pandemic period than in the corresponding months before the pandemic (P <.05). Conclusion: Our results suggest that the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic resulted in a significant change in mental health-related visits to the pediatric emergency department. Those in the groups with reduced visits may be at risk for delayed access to treatment for their mental and behavioral difficulties.
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Tıp, Dahili Tıp Bilimleri, Çocuk Sağlığı ve Hastalıkları, Sağlık Bilimleri, Medicine, Internal Medicine Sciences, Child Health and Diseases, Health Sciences, Klinik Tıp (MED), Klinik Tıp, PEDİATRİ, Clinical Medicine (MED), CLINICAL MEDICINE, PEDIATRICS, Pediatri, Perinatoloji ve Çocuk Sağlığı, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health, Adolescent, depression, emergency, mental health, pandemi, Adolescent, depression, emergency, mental health, pandemic
Citation
Fındık O. T. P., Barin G. G., YILDIRIM A., Fiş N. P., "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pediatric Mental Health Emergency", Turkish Archives of Pediatrics, cilt.58, sa.1, ss.80-88, 2023