TABLE 1.
ED mental health presentations aged 7–18 years April–September 2019 and 2020
| Demographics | Total mental health presentations | Comparison of 2019 and 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 (n = 809) | 2020 (n = 1190) | |||||
| n | % total | n | % total | Variable compared | OR (95% CI) | |
| Sex | ||||||
| Female | 561 | 69.3 | 903 | 75.9 | F:M | 1.37 (1.12–1.68) |
| Male | 240 | 29.7 | 282 | 23.7 | ||
| Other | 8 | 1.0 | 5 | 0.4 | ||
| Age, years | ||||||
| 7–12 | 145 | 17.9 | 164 | 13.8 | 7–12:13–18 | 1.37 (1.07–1.74) |
| 13–18 | 664 | 82.1 | 1026 | 86.2 | ||
| ATS† category | ||||||
| 1 | 20 | 2.5 | 22 | 1.8 | ATS† Cat1–2:Cat3–5 | 0.81 (0.61–1.08) |
| 2 | 64 | 7.9 | 127 | 10.7 | ||
| 3 | 542 | 67.0 | 813 | 68.3 | ||
| 4 | 173 | 21.4 | 220 | 18.5 | ||
| 5 | 10 | 1.2 | 8 | 0.7 | ||
| LOS, h | ||||||
| <4 | 310 | 38.3 | 533 | 44.8 | >12 h:<12 h | 1.15 (0.82–1.61) |
| >4–6 | 266 | 32.9 | 335 | 28.2 | <4 h:>4 h | 1.31 (1.09–1.57) |
| >6–8 | 110 | 13.6 | 133 | 11.2 | ||
| >8–10 | 40 | 4.9 | 57 | 4.8 | ||
| >10–12 | 25 | 3.1 | 35 | 2.9 | ||
| >12 | 58 | 7.2 | 97 | 8.2 | ||
| Arrival method | ||||||
| Other (private car) | 435 | 53.8 | 602 | 50.6 | Road amb:other method | 1.18 (0.99–1.42) |
| Road ambulance | 355 | 43.9 | 572 | 48.1 | ||
| Police vehicle | 13 | 1.6 | 14 | 1.2 | ||
| Disposition | ||||||
| Discharged | 604 | 74.7 | 867 | 72.9 | Admitted:discharged | 1.12 (0.91–1.38) |
| Admitted | 184 | 22.7 | 284 | 23.9 | ||
| Left AMA | 6 | 0.7 | 5 | 0.4 | ||
| ED SSU | 13 | 1.6 | 32 | 2.7 | ||
| Left without treatment | 2 | 0.2 | 2 | 0.2 | ||
†
Australasian triage scale. Cat 1–2 = severe behavioural disturbance with immediate threat of harm to self or others; Cat 3–5 = nil behavioural disturbance to moderate behavioural disturbance with risk of harm to self or others. 25
AMA, against medical advice; LOS, length of stay; SSU, short stay unit.