Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, College of Natural Resources, University of California, Berkeley.
Department of Economics, US Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.
JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Oct 2;6(10):e2336463. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.36463.
Previous research has assessed changes in pediatric and adolescent health care utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, less is known regarding how the pandemic affected adolescents' use of emergency care, specifically for mental health (MH).
To determine how adolescents (ages 12-17 years), compared with other age groups, sought help in emergency departments (EDs) in general and for MH conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this cross-sectional study, National Syndromic Surveillance Program data and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Mental Health, version 1, query were used to track patterns in weekly adolescent ED visits by region across the 10 US Department of Health and Human Services regions from January 2019 through December 2021. Data analysis was performed in April and May 2023.
Total ED visits, MH-related ED visits, and the proportion of total ED visits that were MH related by week-region.
Both weekly regional ED visits and MH-related ED visits dropped after the onset of the pandemic. Because total ED visits dropped more than MH-related ED visits, the proportion of MH-related ED visits increased for the adolescent group. Total ED visits only returned to prepandemic weekly levels (2019: mean [range], 7358 [715-25 908] visits) in the middle of 2021 (overall in 2021: mean [range], 6210 [623-25 777] visits). Mental health-related visits also dropped in 2020 but rebounded to prepandemic weekly levels (2019: mean [range], 634 [56-1703] visits) by the end of 2020 (mean [range], 533 [39-1800] visits).
This cross-sectional study suggests that families' perceptions of the need for emergent MH care were reduced during the pandemic by less than their perception of the need for emergency care overall. Emergency departments should be equipped to provide critical care specifically for adolescents facing MH emergencies.
先前的研究评估了 COVID-19 大流行期间儿科和青少年保健服务利用的变化；然而，对于大流行如何影响青少年对急诊服务的使用，特别是心理健康 (MH) 服务的使用，了解较少。
确定青少年（12-17 岁）与其他年龄组相比，在 COVID-19 大流行期间一般在急诊部 (ED) 和 MH 状况下寻求帮助的情况。
在这项横断面研究中，使用国家综合征监测计划数据和疾病控制与预防中心心理健康版本 1 来跟踪 2019 年 1 月至 2021 年 12 月期间，10 个美国卫生与公众服务部地区每周青少年 ED 就诊情况的区域模式。数据分析于 2023 年 4 月和 5 月进行。
每周区域 ED 就诊次数、MH 相关 ED 就诊次数以及每周总 ED 就诊次数中 MH 相关就诊次数的比例。
大流行开始后，每周区域 ED 就诊次数和 MH 相关 ED 就诊次数均下降。由于总 ED 就诊次数下降幅度超过 MH 相关 ED 就诊次数，青少年组 MH 相关 ED 就诊次数的比例增加。青少年群体的总 ED 就诊次数仅在 2021 年年中（2021 年总体：平均[范围]，6210 [623-25977] 次就诊）恢复到大流行前的每周水平（2019 年：平均[范围]，7358 [715-25908] 次就诊）。2020 年 MH 相关就诊次数也有所下降，但到 2020 年底已恢复到大流行前的每周水平（2019 年：平均[范围]，634 [56-1703] 次就诊）（2020 年平均[范围]，533 [39-1800] 次就诊）。
这项横断面研究表明，在大流行期间，家庭对紧急 MH 护理需求的看法减少，低于对整体紧急护理需求的看法。急诊部应配备专门提供青少年心理健康紧急情况的重要护理。
