Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Multicenter Study
Pediatric mental health emergency department visits from 2017 to 2022: A multicenter study.
The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected children's mental health (MH) and changed patterns of MH emergency department (ED) utilization. Our objective was to assess how pediatric MH ED visits during the COVID-19 pandemic differed from expected prepandemic trends. ⋯ During the late pandemic, pediatric MH ED visits decreased below expected rates; however, visits by females and for specific conditions remained elevated, indicating a need for increased attention to these groups. Prolonged ED visit lengths may reflect inadequate availability of MH services.