AUTHOR=Cozzi Giorgio , Grillone Alberto , Zuliani Elettra , Giangreco Manuela , Zanchi Chiara , Abbracciavento Giuseppe , Barbi Egidio , Amaddeo Alessandro 

TITLE=Suicide attempts and eating disorders in adolescents, the mental health wave of the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic: A paediatric emergency department perspective

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2023.1078274

DOI=10.3389/fped.2023.1078274

ISSN=2296-2360

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Aim</title><p>We compared adolescents’ visits to a tertiary-level paediatric emergency department (PED) in Italy during the pre-pandemic year and the first and second years of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on mental health presentations.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>This was a retrospective study. We collected the number of visits, the demographical features, triage codes, discharge diagnoses, and outcomes of adolescents 13–17 years old who accessed the PED from 1 March 2019 to 28 February 2022.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>During the study period, 13,410 adolescents accessed the PED. The number of visits related to mental health problems was 304 (6.4%) in the second year of the pandemic and 306 (5.6%) in the pre-pandemic year, <italic>p</italic> = 0.07. In the same periods, females’ prevalence was higher, 220 (72.4%) vs. 197 (64.4%), <italic>p</italic> = 0.03. The absolute number of subjects needing admission increased, 44 vs. 34, <italic>p</italic> = 0.21, and more urgent psychiatric consultations were needed, 161 vs. 114, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001. The number of suicide attempts was 23 vs. 8, +188%, <italic>p</italic> = 0.01. The number of adolescents with eating disorders was 21 vs. 5, +320%, <italic>p</italic> = 0.001.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>PED visits for suicide attempts and eating disorders in adolescents sharply increased in the second year of the pandemic.</p></sec>