Increase in Referrals of Children and Adolescents to the Psychiatric Emergency Room Is Evident Only in the Second Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic—Evaluating 9156 Visits from 2010 through 2021 in a Single Psychiatric Emergency Room

• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19158924
• Publication Date: 2022-07-22T16:53:45Z
• Authors: Chen Dror; Nimrod Hertz-Palmor; Yael Yadan-Barzilai; Talia Saker; Maya Kritchmann-Lupo; Yuval Bloch
• Keywords: Pandemic

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic affected the wellbeing of children and adolescents. psychiatric emergency room (ER) is hub emergencies reflects clinically significant mental problems. Previous studies compared 2019 2020 observed a decline in ER referrals. current study focused on continuous trend referrals from 2010 to end 2021. Method: In our observational retrospective study, we procured data 9156 child adolescent ER. comparison was made based similar months each year. Results: There positive monthly between 2021, representing increase per month that preceding year (unstandardized β = 4.21, 95% CI 3.44 4.98, p < 0.0001). Between March February 2021 (monthly visits 72.5 + 16.6 [median 79.5], annual 870), no additive effect beyond this general after controlling for population growth. Conversely, December 106.1 31.8 105.5], overall 1061) projected incline, as predicted by previous years (β 21.61, 12.12 31.06, Conclusions: first different decade long rise adolescents’ second showed an additional incline trend. complexity rising need demands awareness clinicians policy makers alike.