Trends in Pediatric Mental Health-Related Emergency Department Visits During the School Year and School Breaks

IF 1.8 4区医学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Journal of School Health Pub Date : 2026-08-10 DOI:10.1111/josh.70211

Lora Henderson Smith, Genevieve R. Lyons, Hector A. Hernandez Laines, Natalie Hendrickson, Ethan Bachert, Moira Smith

{"title":"Trends in Pediatric Mental Health-Related Emergency Department Visits During the School Year and School Breaks","authors":"Lora Henderson Smith, Genevieve R. Lyons, Hector A. Hernandez Laines, Natalie Hendrickson, Ethan Bachert, Moira Smith","doi":"10.1111/josh.70211","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Background</h3>\n \n <p>We examined patient and visit trends in pediatric emergency department (ED) usage during the school year and summer breaks before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Methods</h3>\n \n <p>We extracted data on mental health-related visits to the ED of an academic medical center from 2018 to 2023 among youth aged 5–18. Data were visualized, and overall visit frequency was modeled via piecewise linear regression. Odds ratios were estimated for characteristics associated with suicidal ideation and inpatient admission.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Results</h3>\n \n <p>A total of <i>n</i> = 2536 unique individuals had 3358 ED encounters resulting in a mental health-related diagnosis. Visit frequency was flat from August 2018 to a nadir in August 2020, followed by an increase. Female patients had increased odds of ED visits (OR = 1.45; 95% CI: 1.24–1.69) compared to males. Visits during school breaks were associated with increased odds of inpatient admission compared to visits during school sessions (OR = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.08–1.56).</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Implications for School Health Policy, Practice, and Equity</h3>\n \n <p>Schools are an important site for mental health promotion and can collaborate with EDs and community providers to support students before breaks.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Conclusions</h3>\n \n <p>Students may experience a decrease in school-related stress during breaks, but a lack of access to school-based mental health support may be one factor related to increased ED visits requiring inpatient admissions.</p>\n </section>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":50059,"journal":{"name":"Journal of School Health","volume":"96 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/josh.70211","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of School Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/josh.70211","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

We examined patient and visit trends in pediatric emergency department (ED) usage during the school year and summer breaks before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

We extracted data on mental health-related visits to the ED of an academic medical center from 2018 to 2023 among youth aged 5–18. Data were visualized, and overall visit frequency was modeled via piecewise linear regression. Odds ratios were estimated for characteristics associated with suicidal ideation and inpatient admission.

Results

A total of n = 2536 unique individuals had 3358 ED encounters resulting in a mental health-related diagnosis. Visit frequency was flat from August 2018 to a nadir in August 2020, followed by an increase. Female patients had increased odds of ED visits (OR = 1.45; 95% CI: 1.24–1.69) compared to males. Visits during school breaks were associated with increased odds of inpatient admission compared to visits during school sessions (OR = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.08–1.56).

Implications for School Health Policy, Practice, and Equity

Schools are an important site for mental health promotion and can collaborate with EDs and community providers to support students before breaks.

Conclusions

Students may experience a decrease in school-related stress during breaks, but a lack of access to school-based mental health support may be one factor related to increased ED visits requiring inpatient admissions.

查看原文本刊更多论文

儿童心理健康急诊就诊趋势在学年和学校假期。

背景：我们研究了在COVID-19大流行之前、期间和之后的学年和暑假期间儿科急诊科（ED）的患者和就诊趋势。方法：我们提取了2018年至2023年在一家学术医疗中心急诊室就诊的5-18岁青少年心理健康相关就诊数据。数据可视化，整体访问频率通过分段线性回归建模。估计与自杀意念和住院有关的特征的比值比。结果：共有n = 2536个独特的个体有3358次ED遭遇导致与精神健康相关的诊断。从2018年8月到2020年8月的最低点，访问频率持平，随后增加。与男性相比，女性患者急诊科就诊的几率增加（OR = 1.45; 95% CI: 1.24-1.69）。与上课期间的访问相比，在学校休息期间访问与住院率增加相关（OR = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.08-1.56）。对学校健康政策、实践和公平的影响：学校是促进心理健康的重要场所，可以与教育部门和社区提供者合作，在休息前为学生提供支持。结论：在课间休息期间，学生可能会经历与学校相关的压力减少，但缺乏获得学校心理健康支持的机会可能是与急诊科就诊人数增加相关的一个因素。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Journal of School Health 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

3.70

自引率

9.10%

发文量

134

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Journal of School Health is published 12 times a year on behalf of the American School Health Association. It addresses practice, theory, and research related to the health and well-being of school-aged youth. The journal is a top-tiered resource for professionals who work toward providing students with the programs, services, and environment they need for good health and academic success.