Trends in Mental Health Presentations to a Paediatric Emergency Department.
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Authors
Fitzgerald, E
Foley, D
McNamara, R
Barrett, E
Boylan, C
Butler, J
Morgan, S
Okafor, I
Issue Date
2020-02-13
Type
Journal Article
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Aims This study aimed to analyse trends in mental health presentations to the Emergency Department (ED), which anecdotally had increased over the past decade. Methods The ED's electronic 'Symphony' system was used to identify the annual number of presentations categorised as having a mental health complaint from 2006-2017. A detailed analysis was performed on presentations over a one-year period. Results The number of presentations increased from 69 in 2006 to a peak of 432 in 2016 (526% increase). The overall admission rate was 33.3%(n=99), while 52.5%(n=156) of presentations occurred outside of standard working hours. Similar increases were documented by other ED's worldwide, and the WHO estimate that neuropsychiatric disorders will become one of the top five causes of morbidity, mortality and disability among children by 2020. Conclusion With the number of mental health presentations dramatically increasing, carefully designed and integrated strategies are required to pro-actively tackle this growing epidemic.
Description
Citation
Fitzgerald, E., Foley, D., McNamara, R., Barrett, E., Boylan, C., Butler, J., Morgan, S., & Okafor, I. (2020). Trends in Mental Health Presentations to a Paediatric Emergency Department. Irish medical journal, 113(2), 20.
Publisher
License
Journal
Irish medical journal
Volume
113
Issue
2
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
0332-3102