[Acute admissions to the Psychiatric Children's Hospital, Risskov, during 1 January 1982-31 December 1987. A retrospective descriptive study].

During the period concerned, 50 children were admitted as emergencies to the Psychiatric Children's Hospital. These were compared with 90 children over the age of nine years who were admitted in the ordinary manner during the same period. The children admitted as emergencies were aged ten years or more, they were older than the control group and the sex distribution was more uniform. The emergency admissions were, as a rule, instigated by the parents. Half of the families involved had had contact with the Children's Psychiatric Hospital previously. The majority of the children in the control group were referred by school psychologists. The three most important reasons for emergency admission were psychotic symptoms, threats of suicide or attempted suicide and behavioural disorders. Nearly half of the children admitted as emergencies were hospitalized for less than three months and nearly one third were hospitalized for less than one month. Almost all of the children admitted as emergencies and all of the children in the control group had had contact with the social supportive agencies prior to admission. The recommendations on discharge did not differ essentially in the two groups.