Pediatric Mental Health Emergency Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Introduction: Paediatric and adult psychiatric emergency department (ED) visits decreased during the initial COVID-19 outbreak. Long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will include increases in mental healthcare needs, especially among vulnerable groups such as children and adolescents.

Aim: This study examined changes in the number of overall and diagnosis-specific mental health ED visits among patients aged <18 years following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Madrid, Spain.