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FRIDAY, Nov. 2, 2018 (HealthDay News) – Mental health issues are more and more dramatic, and a new report shows.
Between 2012 and 2016, overall admissions shot up 50 percent in the United States, the researchers said.
"Prior to our study, we knew that increasing the number of children with mental health concerns were coming to the nation's pediatric emergency departments," said study author Dr. Anna Abrams. She is a resident physician with the National Children's Health System in Washington, D.C.
"What this new research demonstrates is that there is a significant increase in the rate of this problem, but that it is significant racial and ethnic disparities in the world of pediatric emergency departments for mental health issues," Abrams said.
Why this is so remains unclear, she noted.
"Our study really was an effort to characterize the frequency of these emergencies," Abrams explained. "It was not designed to investigate the issue of this issue in the future."
Abrams and her colleagues plan to present their findings at the American Academy of Pediatrics in Orlando, Fla. The research should be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
The study team said that more than 17 million American children struggle with some form of psychiatric illness. In recent years, that has meant that between 2 percent to 5 percent of all mental health concerns.
To drill down on the trends, the researchers had been collected by the Pediatric Health Information System.
The team focused on the mental health-related issue to an emergency department of children up to the age of 21.
The mental health issues covered by the analysis included: acute anxiety and delirium states; adjustment disorders and neuroses; alcohol abuse; drug abuse (including opioid abuse); bipolar disorders; childhood behavioral disorders; depression; major depressive disorders; disorders of personality and impulse control; eating disorders; psychosis; and schizophrenia.
During the study period, investigators determined that more than 293,000 children – who were an average age of 13 – had been diagnosed for some type of mental illness in a pediatric emergency room setting.
Overall, these visits rose dramatically during the study period, up to about 50 visits for every 100,000 children in 2012 to nearly 79 visits per 100,000 by 2016, according to the report.
But when broken down by race, the investigators found that the observed rate was not equal.
For example, nearly 52 out of every 100,000 white children were visiting an ER for a mental health issue by 2016. But among black children, that figure shot up to 78. Among other non-Hispanic minorities, the number rose to more than 79.
The majority of all pediatric mental health visits (55 percent) were covered by some form of public insurance, the study authors noted.
William Tynan is director of integrated health care with the American Psychological Association. He said he would not be surprised if the study actually underestimates the degree to which mental health is the central concern among pediatric ER visits.
"I would have estimated 10 percent, so the 2 percent to 5 percent looks low to me," Tynan said.
As for the observed racial disparities, Tynan suggests that they are likely "a function of social circumstances."
Poverty aside, "families go to the emergency department because, in general, when there is a problem with a child – either medical or behavioral – all parents feel a sense of urgency and want it addressed immediately," Tynan said.
Aim, "we do know that children in poverty have been exposed to social stressors – and sometimes more trauma and violence – have a higher risk of disorders, so the numbers compared with black and white need to be compared with poverty rates. , he added.
On that front, Tynan noted that some estimates for the poverty rate for children at 27 percent, compared with just 10 percent among white children. Pew Research paints an even starker divide, he added: 38 percent among black kids versus 11 percent among their white peers.
More information
There's more on children and mental health at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.
SOURCES: Anna Abrams, MD, resident physician, Children's National Health System, Washington, D.C .; William Douglas Tynan, Ph.D., director, integrated health care, American Psychological Association; Nov. 2, 2018, presentation, American Academy of Pediatrics meeting, Orlando, Fla.
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