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Psychotropic medication use for paediatric mental health patients in an emergency department
Author(s) -
O'Donnell Sinead M,
Carison Anna,
Hill Ashley,
Say Daniela,
Hiscock Harriet,
Babl Franz E
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
emergency medicine australasia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1742-6723
pISSN - 1742-6731
DOI - 10.1111/1742-6723.13617
Subject(s) - medicine , emergency department , odds ratio , confidence interval , pediatrics , suicidal ideation , retrospective cohort study , adverse effect , olanzapine , medical record , emergency medicine , mental health , psychiatry , poison control , injury prevention , schizophrenia (object oriented programming)
Objective There is paucity of evidence for psychotropic medication use in children and adolescents presenting with mental health (MH) problems to the ED. We set out to describe paediatric psychotropic medication use in the ED. Methods We conducted a retrospective electronic medical record review of ED patients with MH discharge codes at a tertiary paediatric ED in 2018. We assessed the epidemiology and management of patients who received a psychotropic medication. We calculated the odds ratios (ORs with 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) of key demographic factors of medicated versus non‐medicated MH patients. Results During 2018 there were 1695 MH‐related presentations to the ED. Of these, 280 presentations resulted in the patient receiving a psychotropic medication (16.5%). Medicated children with MH illness were more likely to be male (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.16–1.96), have a more acute triage category (OR 3.37, 95% CI 2.28–4.98), have an ED length of stay greater than 12 h (OR 3.96, 95% CI 2.56–6.13) and present after hours (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.16–1.96). Most had a diagnosis of acute behavioural disturbance or suicidal ideation. A variety of treatment regimens were used but children primarily received a single oral agent (diazepam or olanzapine). Parenteral medications were given in 8.6%. No adverse events were recorded. Conclusion A minority of children with MH presentations to the ED were medicated. It will require multicentre research to determine the most effective and safe acute psychotropic agents for oral and parenteral use in children in the ED.