Revista de calidad asistencial : organo de la Sociedad Española de Calidad Asistencial
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Multicenter Study
[Care of adolescents in Spanish hospitals: the invisible patients].
The general aim of this work was to address the current models of non-psychiatric hospitalization received by adolescents in Spanish hospitals. Specifically, we wished to determine whether Spanish hospitals have specific non-psychiatric admittance units for adolescent patients, what are the age limits used by such units, what diseases are cared for, and what educational and leisure services are provided for hospitalised patients. If the hospitals do not have specific admittance units for adolescent patients, we wished to find out the age limit at which minors are admitted into the paediatric unit, and where they are they admitted when they are not admitted in paediatrics, and whether alternative educational and leisure activities are provided to minor patients who are admitted in units other than paediatrics. ⋯ The treatment of adolescents within the Spanish hospital system has a series of deficiencies as regards international quality parameters.