Emergency mental health admissions for children: a naturalistic study.

Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry

National and Specialist Acorn Lodge Inpatient Children's Unit, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK Pediatric BRAIN Center, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA.

Published: January 2015

AI Article Synopsis

  • The study evaluated emergency mental health admissions (EA) for children under 13 in the UK over three years, aiming to address concerns about their safety and effectiveness.
  • EA patients (47 children) showed comparable outcomes to those admitted through planned admissions (PA) (35 children) in terms of age, length of stay, medication, and risk incidents, despite initially lower functioning levels.
  • The results suggest that EA is a valid and safe option for children's mental health care, with parents expressing higher satisfaction compared to those with PA.

Article Abstract

Objective: Emergency mental health admissions (EA) for children under 13 years are not routinely offered in the UK, which may be related to preconceptions about their safety, appropriateness and acceptability. Our aim was to evaluate routinely offered EA of children in a national unit over a three-year period.

Method: A retrospective, naturalistic study was conducted, comparing EA with planned admissions (PA) in terms of children's functioning on admission and discharge, clinical characteristics, significant risk-related incidents and parental and children satisfaction.

Results: EA children (N=47) did not differ from PA children (N=35) in age, length of admission, medication treatment, significant risk-related incidents, functioning at discharge, access to education at discharge and satisfaction. EA children had lower functioning and were less likely to have been out of education on admission. Parental satisfaction in EA was higher compared to PA.

Conclusions: EA for children are an appropriate, clinically indicated and safe alternative to PA, associated with higher parental satisfaction.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1359104513493430DOI Listing

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