Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry = Journal de l'Académie canadienne de psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent
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J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry · Aug 2011
Clinical acuity of repeat pediatric mental health presentations to the emergency department.
We examined whether clinical acuity changed in children and youth with repeated emergency department (ED) visits for mental illness. A secondary, exploratory objective was to examine characteristics associated with clinical acuity. ⋯ Repeat ED visits for several pediatric mental illnesses were not a result of destabilized conditions. Further investigation of the relationship between patient characteristics, available community services, and patterned mental health care use is needed to clarify ED utilization patterns.