Exploring the sociodemographic and outcome variables of children and adolescents assessed by CAPES

Abstract

Background – Psychiatric emergency services offer urgent mental health assessments to prevent unnecessary inpatient psychiatric hospitalisation. The most prevalent mental health presenting complaints to a paediatric A&E in developed countries are self-harm behaviour, anxiety, low mood, behavioural problems, and substance abuse. Aim – To examine the sociodemographic and outcome variable of children and adolescents assessed by the Children and Adolescent Psychiatric Emergency Service (CAPES) between July 2016 and October 2020. Participants – All of the cases assessed by CAPES over a 4-year period were included in this study, in total there were 918 young people who made use of this service. Design – A descriptive content analysis of available hospital documents was performed to identify possible promoters and risk factors associated with child psychiatric emergencies. Setting – the study took place at CAPES, which is situated at the Accident and Emergency department at Mater Dei Hospital. Results & Conclusion – There was no significant difference for the participants by gender, and most of the participants were aged between 10-13 years old. Many of the children and adolescents had no previous psychiatric history. Suicidal thoughts and behavioural problems were the two most predominant presenting complaints. 42.8% of the cases assessed by CAPES were classified as nonurgent. Most of the participants were referred from school. CAPES was most busy during the scholastic months. The rate of admissions following CAPES assessment was 11.4%, and most of the admissions were voluntary.