Characteristics of Pediatric Psychiatric Emergency Population in a Mental Health Hospital

• Published in: Eurasian journal of emergency medicine Vol. 14; no. 3; pp. 123 - 130
• Main Authors: Mutlu, Caner, Kilicoglu, Ali Guven, Gunes, Hatice, Adaletli, Hilal, Metin, Handan, Bahali, Mustafa Kayhan, Ipek, Hamiyet, Uneri, Ozden Sukran
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ankara Galenos Publishing House 01-09-2015; Galenos Yayinevi
• Subjects: adolescent; child; Child psychology; Emergency medical care; Emergency service; mental health; Mental health care; Pediatrics; psychiatry; Teenagers
• ISSN: 2149-5807; 2149-6048
• DOI: 10.5152/eajem.2015.71354

We aimed to investigate the characteristics of children and adolescents presented to the psychiatric emergency service (PES) of a mental health hospital. Medical records of patients under 18 years of age were reviewed for the first psychiatric emergency visit during a 1-year period. The mean age was 15.82 years and 65.8% (n=711) were female. The most presenting symptoms were suicidal ideation (21.0%; most for girls) and homicide/violence toward others (20.7%; most for boys). The mean duration of symptoms was 265.36 days. The most common diagnoses were conduct disorder (16.7%; most for boys) and conversion disorder (15.5%; most for girls). Of the patients, 51.7% never used any mental health services before. The rate of prior use of mental health service was significantly higher in patients presenting with homicide/violence toward others and self-harm and lower in patients presenting with anxiety and somatic symptoms (p<0.05). Of the patients, 292 (27.0%) took no treatment and 271 (25.1%) were admitted to the psychiatric inpatient unit. PES can be used by half of the families as a first-line therapy unit. PES seems to serve an important role in the continuum of pediatric mental health care, particularly for youths with homicide/violence toward others, and to be a point of access to mental healthcare, particularly for youths with anxiety and somatic symptoms.