A Retrospective Study on the Factors Associated with Long-Stay Hospitalization in a Child Neuropsychiatry Unit

Abstract

The past twenty years have seen a rapid increase in acute psychiatric symptoms in children and adolescents, with a subsequent rise in the number of psychiatric hospitalizations. This paper aims to: (a) describe the epidemiology of hospitalizations and some of the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of pediatric patients admitted to a regional referral Complex Operative Child Neuropsychiatry Hospital Unit in Northeast Italy and (b) identify potential factors correlated with the length of hospital stay. Methods: 318 (M = 12.8 years; SD = 3.11; 72% Female) patients hospitalized for mental health disorders from 2013 to 2019. Results: Around 60% of hospital admissions occurred via the emergency room, mostly due to suicidal ideation and/or suicide attempts (24%). Affective disorders were the most frequent discharge diagnosis (40%). As for factors correlated with length of hospital stay, we found significant links with chronological age, way of hospital admission, cause of admission, discharge diagnosis, presence of psychiatric comorbidity, family conflict, and psychiatric family history. Conclusions: These results provide information about global characteristics associated with the length of psychiatric hospital stays in pediatric patients and provide a basis on which specific precautions can be hypothesized with the aim of developing more focused treatments.

Demographic, clinical and biochemical correlates of the length of stay for different polarities in Chinese inpatients with bipolar disorder: A real-world study

“…This study indicated that a family history of mental disorders was a risk factor for prolonged LOS in manic episodes and mixed states. Similar results were observed in pediatric and adolescent psychiatric disorder inpatients (Zanato et al, 2021). The significant correlation between a family history of mental disorders and hospitalization duration demonstrates genetic susceptibility's impact.…”

Health service use for young males and females with a mental disorder is higher than their peers in a population-level matched cohort

“…Hospital admissions of young people with mental disorders are increasing in a number of high-income countries [15,25,26]. This increase is at least partly due to increasing awareness and diagnosis of mental disorders in young people, along with a potential increase in risk factors for young people, including poor psychological health, genetic vulnerability stemming from a family psychiatric history, and adverse environmental conditions and interactions [25]. In the US, mental disorders were the most commonly given reason for hospital admissions of young person who had existing health conditions [27].…”

“…Hospital admissions for treatment of mental disorders in young people are influenced by a number of factors, including both the availability of specialist hospital beds [25], hospital admission policies, and also the availability of community-based alternatives and care pathways [31]. In 2018-19, the majority of public hospital beds allocated for mental health admissions in Australia were for general adult services (71.4%; 5,002 beds), with only 4.3% (303 beds) allocated for child and adolescent services [45].…”

Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of paediatric patients admitted to a neuropsychiatric care hospital in the COVID-19 era

“…The multidisciplinary evaluation carried out during hospitalisation includes neuropsychiatric interviews for the patient and parents; neuropsychological assessment to evaluate the patient’s cognitive and executive functioning; administration of projective tests and structured and/or semi-structured questionnaires; and the observation of family interactions through the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP) procedure [ 23 – 25 ].…”