Psychosocial factors associated with mental health presentations of adolescents to the emergency department in Sydney, Australia: A retrospective review

IF 2.1 4区医学 Q2 EMERGENCY MEDICINE

Australasian Emergency Care Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2025-08-05 DOI:10.1016/j.auec.2025.07.003

Saartje Berendsen Russell , Shanti Pun , Farina Jeyaraj , Margaret Murphy , Nicole Bohlken , Emma Jenkins , Kerrie Bubb , Naomi Derrick , William Royle , Radhika Seimon , Kendall Bein , Michael M. Dinh

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Adolescents with mental health concerns are increasingly presenting to emergency departments (EDs). Understanding psychosocial triggers that contribute to presentation may improve patient management. This study aimed to identify these psychosocial factors using the HEEADSSS assessment framework for adolescents. HEEADSSS is an acronym for the topics it incorporates; Home; Education/Employment; Eating/Exercise (Sleep); Activities/Peer Relationships (Hobbies); Drug use; Sexuality (Sexual orientation/Gender); Suicide (Self-harm/Depression/ Mood); Safety and Spirituality.

Methods

This was a retrospective chart review of electronic medical records (eMR) of mental health presentations in 10–24-year-olds to three metropolitan EDs during 2021. Trained nurses collected data from the ED clinical notes. De-identified data were categorically indexed to the topics of the HEEADSSS framework and analysed qualitatively to identify psychosocial factors and themes relating to MH presentation.

Results

1748 presentations were analysed. The categories of Home, Mood, Sleep, Suicide and Peer Relationships identified high rates of issues amongst the study population. Common issues included difficult family dynamics (30.0 %), trauma (26.4 %), low mood (30.3 %), poor sleep (30.8 %) as well as themes of loneliness (7.6 %) and feeling socially isolated (18.2 %).

Conclusion

Using the HEEADSSS assessment framework allowed capture of unique psychosocial factors that contributed to mental health concerns for adolescents presenting to ED. Further research is needed to determine the importance of each factor as a precipitating reason for ED presentation.

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心理社会因素与澳大利亚悉尼急诊科青少年心理健康表现相关：一项回顾性回顾。

背景：有心理健康问题的青少年越来越多地出现在急诊科。了解导致症状的社会心理触发因素可以改善患者管理。本研究旨在利用青少年HEEADSSS评估框架来确定这些心理社会因素。headsss是它所包含的主题的首字母缩写；回家;教育/工作;饮食/运动(睡眠);活动/同伴关系（爱好）；药物使用;性（性倾向/性别）；自杀（自残/抑郁/情绪低落）；安全和灵性。方法：回顾性分析2021年10-24岁青少年到3个城市急诊科的心理健康电子病历（eMR）。训练有素的护士从急诊科的临床记录中收集数据。将去识别的数据分类索引到HEEADSSS框架的主题，并进行定性分析，以确定与MH表现有关的心理社会因素和主题。结果：分析了1748例病例。家庭、情绪、睡眠、自杀和同伴关系等类别在研究人群中确定了较高的问题发生率。常见的问题包括家庭关系不融洽（30.0% %）、精神创伤（26.4% %）、情绪低落（30.3% %）、睡眠不佳（30.8% %）以及孤独感（7.6% %）和社会孤立感（18.2% %）。结论：使用HEEADSSS评估框架可以捕捉到导致青少年出现ED的心理健康问题的独特社会心理因素。需要进一步的研究来确定每个因素在导致ED的原因中的重要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Australasian Emergency Care Nursing-Emergency Nursing

CiteScore

3.30

自引率

5.60%

发文量

审稿时长

37 days

期刊介绍： Australasian Emergency Care is an international peer-reviewed journal dedicated to supporting emergency nurses, physicians, paramedics and other professionals in advancing the science and practice of emergency care, wherever it is delivered. As the official journal of the College of Emergency Nursing Australasia (CENA), Australasian Emergency Care is a conduit for clinical, applied, and theoretical research and knowledge that advances the science and practice of emergency care in original, innovative and challenging ways. The journal serves as a leading voice for the emergency care community, reflecting its inter-professional diversity, and the importance of collaboration and shared decision-making to achieve quality patient outcomes. It is strongly focussed on advancing the patient experience and quality of care across the emergency care continuum, spanning the pre-hospital, hospital and post-hospital settings within Australasia and beyond.