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Patient and treatment characteristics of children and youth who visit the emergency department for a behavioural disorder
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- Author / Creator
- Liu, Stacy
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More and more parents are seeking care for their children in emergency departments (EDs) to stabilize acute emergencies related to mental health problems, request guidance for at-home child management, and gain access to health care resources. This retrospective cohort study explored patient and treatment characteristics of 325 children and youth (<18 years) who made 365 ED visits for a behavioural disorder between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2011. Results reflect trends observed by other research studies including gender and age trends for diagnosis, pre-existing involvement in the health system, and ED visits deemed urgent in nature. This research adds a unique perspective of the reasons children/youth visited the ED and the type of emergency care they received for a behavioural disorder. The most common precipitating event to the ED was a suicide-related gesture/attempt. The majority of children/youth had mood and suicidality assessments, which reflected precipitating events and presenting complaints.
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- Subjects / Keywords
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- Graduation date
- Fall 2013
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Science
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.