Pediatric Mental Health ED Visits Fluctuated in Pandemic

TOPLINE:

The ED visits among heart transplant (HT)-recipients have increased over past decade, with infection as the main diagnosis. The mortality rate, however, remains low.

METHODOLOGY:

• The researchers identified 177,450 HT-related ED visits from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample database between 2009 and 2018.
• The primary outcomes were the volume and primary diagnoses of ED visits, mortality rates and combined ED/hospitalizations and total ED and hospitalization charges adjusted for inflation to 2017 US dollars.

TAKEAWAY:

• Infection (23.6%) and gastrointestinal causes (11.3%) were the most common primary diagnoses for ED visits.
• The overall mortality rate was low at 1.6% and for ED visits was 0.44%.
• The total ED visit and hospitalization charges were $13,304 per ED visit/hospitalization.
• There was no significant change in mortality, including ED and hospital, over the study period (P=0.60).
• The increase in HT-related ED visits over the past decade corresponds to a concurrent increase in the incidence of HT.

IN PRACTICE:

• HT-related ED visits have increased in past decade, but the mortality remains low, the authors concluded.

SOURCE:

• This study, led by Luise Holzhauser, MD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, was published online in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

LIMITATIONS:

• The retrospective study design may introduce potential bias. Misclassification bias may be present. ED diagnosis codes. A single patient may be presented multiple times and all comorbidities may have not been recorded. Additionally, the findings may have limited generalizability, as the patients do not represent all the states.

DISCLOSURES:

• This study was supported by the Cardiac Center Research Core of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Three authors received consulting fees and honoraria from various resources. The other authors disclosed no competing interests. from other sources.