TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Characteristics of children and youth who visit the emergency department for a behavioural disorder
JO  - Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
A1  - Liu, Stacy
A1  - Ali, Samina
A1  - Rosychuk, Rhonda J.
A1  - Newton, Amanda S.
SP  - 111
EP  - 117
VL  - 23
IS  - 2
N2  - OBJECTIVE: Relatively little is known about children who present to emergency departments (EDs) to stabilize acute emergencies related to behavioural disorders. This study describes patient and treatment characteristics of such children/youth.    METHODS: We conducted a retrospective medical record review of consecutive ED presentations made by children/youth (10 to 17 years) between January 2009 and December 2011 for visits with a main discharge diagnosis of hyperkinetic disorder, mixed disorder of conduct and emotions, or conduct disorder. Socio-demographic and ED visit data were analyzed descriptively.    RESULTS: During the study period, 365 consecutive presentations made by 325 children/youth. The most common presenting complaints were related to depression/self-harm (45.8%) and violent behaviours (28.8%). Many children/youth had a previously diagnosed psychiatric disorder (59.4%) and identified being under the care of a child psychiatrist (42.2%). The majority of ED visits were triaged as urgent or emergent (51.5% and 41.1%, respectively) and included mood and suicidality assessments (84.7% and 80.8%, respectively). Follow-up with various services was made for all visits.    CONCLUSION: Children and youth presented to the ED for a behavioural disorder had urgent needs related to self-harm, depression and violent behaviours. These findings draw attention to the important role of the ED in managing physical safety and well-being concerns for families and recommending follow-up in the post-crisis period.    KEYWORDS: behavioural disorders; emergency department; mental health; pediatrics<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1719-8429
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -