Mental Health Problems Are the Leading Cause of Hospitalization Among Adolescents Accessing a Pediatric Emergency Department in Italy.

Aim: Describe the use of the pediatric emergency department of a tertiary-level children’s hospital in Italy by adolescents. MethodsThis retrospective study was based on the medical records of patients aged 13 to 17 years, who accessed the pediatric emergency department of the Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, from 1 January to 31 December 2018. For each patient, we reported: age, gender, triage category, chief complaint, diagnosis, admission status, and hospital ward of destination. The primary outcome was to describe the use of the department in terms of leading causes of access, diagnoses, and outcomes. ResultsDuring the study period, 3062 adolescents accessed to the department, for a total of 3895 unscheduled visits. The principal causes of access were trauma (45.3%) and organic diseases (38.8%). 249 adolescents (6.4%) had mental health problems. One-hundred-forty-two adolescents (3.6%) were admitted to the hospital, 54 of whom to the neuropsychiatric ward, for mental health problems. Compared to younger patients entering the department, adolescents were admitted to the neuropsychiatric ward more frequently (p <0.001). ConclusionsIn this series, mental health problems were a frequent cause of urgent access to the hospital and the leading cause of urgent hospitalization among adolescents.