2017 to 2020 Saw No Change in Pediatric Psychiatric Bed Capacity

MONDAY, Aug. 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) — From 2017 to 2020, there was no change in U.S. pediatric inpatient psychiatric bed capacity, according to a research letter published online Aug. 19 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Anna M. Cushing, M.D., from the Children”s Hospital Los Angeles, and colleagues characterized geographic variation in pediatric inpatient psychiatric beds in the United States from 2017 to 2020. Changes in hospitals with pediatric inpatient psychiatric beds and overall bed counts were estimated using linear regression.

The researchers found that 421 of the 6,347 hospitals in the American Hospital Association Survey Database provided at least two pediatric inpatient psychiatric beds between 2017 and 2020. Between 2017 and 2020, there was no significant change seen in hospitals with pediatric inpatient psychiatric beds (398 versus 400) or national pediatric inpatient psychiatric bed capacity (11,107 versus 11,276). In 2020, most hospitals with pediatric inpatient psychiatric beds were urban (88.8 percent of 400), representing 91.3 percent of bed capacity. Overall, 52.2 and 23.0 percent of the 11,276 beds were in free-standing psychiatric hospitals and hospitals specializing in pediatric care, respectively. The median number of pediatric inpatient psychiatric beds was 15 per 100,000 children across states and varied from 0 to 75 from Alaska to Arkansas. Associations with fewer beds per capita were seen for higher statewide median household income and a higher percentage Hispanic population.

“Attention is needed to ensure national pediatric inpatient psychiatric capacity is sufficient to meet population mental health needs and that resources are equitably distributed,” the authors write.

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