Systematic review and meta-analysis: relative age in attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder.

Youngest students in their class, with birthdates just before the school entry cut-off date, are overrepresented among children receiving an Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis or medication for this. This is known as the relative age effect. This systematic review and meta-analysis summarises the evidence on the influence of relative age on ADHD symptoms, diagnosis and medication prescribing. As no review to date has investigated the association with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis, this is also examined. Following prospective registration with PROSPERO, we conducted a systematic review according to the PRISMA guidelines. We searched seven databases: Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Web of Science Core Collection, ERIC, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection, and Cochrane Library. Additional references were identified from manual search of retrieved reviews. We performed a meta-analysis of quantitative data. Thirty-two studies were included, thirty-one investigated ADHD and two ASD. Younger relative age was associated with ADHD diagnosis and medication, with relative risks of 1.38 (1.36-1.52 95% CI) and 1.28 (1.21-1.36 95% CI) respectively. However, risk estimates exhibited high heterogeneity. A relative age effect was observed for teacher ratings of ADHD symptoms but not for parent ratings. With regard to ASD, the youngest children in their school year were more likely to be diagnosed with ASD. This review confirms a relative age effect for ADHD diagnosis and prescribed ADHD medication and suggests that differences in teacher and parent ratings might contribute to this. Further research is needed on the possible association with ASD.

Experiences and impact of psychiatric inpatient admissions far away from home: a qualitative study with young people, parents/carers and healthcare professionals.

BACKGROUND: There are significant clinical, policy and societal concerns about the impact on young people (YP), from admission to psychiatric wards far from home. However, research evidence is scarce. AIMS: To investigate the impact of at-distance admissions to general adolescent units, from the perspectives of YP, parents/carers and healthcare professionals (HCPs) including service commissioners, to inform clinical practice, service development and policy. METHOD: Semistructured interviews with purposive samples of YP aged 13-17 years (n=28) and parents/carers (n=19) across five large regions in England, and a national sample of HCPs (n=51), were analysed using a framework approach. RESULTS: There was considerable agreement between YP, parents/carers and HCPs on the challenges of at-distance admissions. YP and parents/carers had limited or no involvement in decision-making processes around admission and highlighted a lack of available information about individual units. Being far from home posed challenges with maintaining home contact and practical/financial challenges for families visiting. HCPs struggled with ensuring continuity of care, particularly around maintaining access to local clinical teams and educational support. However, some YP perceived separation from their local environment as beneficial because it removed them from unhelpful environments. At-distance admissions provided respite for some families struggling to support their child. CONCLUSIONS: At-distance admissions lead to additional distress, uncertainty, compromised continuity of care and educational, financial and other practical difficulties, some of which could be better mitigated. For a minority, there are some benefits from such admissions. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Standardised online information, accessible prior to admission, is needed for all Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services units. Additional practical and financial burden placed on families needs greater recognition and consideration of potential sources of support. Policy changes should incorporate findings that at-distance or adult ward admissions may be preferable in certain circumstances.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and adolescent mental health in-patient service use in England: interrupted time-series analysis of national patient records.

BACKGROUND: During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, children and young people (CYP) faced significant restrictions. The virus and mitigation approaches significantly impacted how health services could function and be safely delivered. AIMS: To investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on CYP psychiatric admission trends during lockdown 1 (started 23 Mar 2020) and lockdown 2 (started 5 Nov 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic in England. METHOD: Routinely collected, retrospective English administrative data regarding psychiatric hospital admissions, length of stay and patient demographic factors were analysed using an interrupted time series analysis (ITSA) to estimate the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns 1 and 2 on service use trends. We analysed data of 6250 CYP (up to 18 years of age) using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis with Newey-West standard errors to handle autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity. RESULTS: Psychiatric hospital admissions for CYP significantly fell during lockdown 1, and then fell even further during lockdown 2. A greater proportion of admissions during lockdown were out of area or to independent sector units. During lockdown, the average age of CYP admitted was higher, and a greater proportion were female. There was also a significant increase in the proportion of looked-after children and CYP from the most socioeconomically deprived areas admitted during lockdown 2. CONCLUSIONS: During both lockdowns, fewer CYP had psychiatric admissions. The subsequent rise in admissions for more socioeconomically deprived CYP and looked-after children suggests that these CYP may have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, or overlooked during earlier phases.

'Far Away from Home': adolescent inpatient admissions far from home, out of area or to adult wards: a national surveillance study.

BACKGROUND: The increasing prevalence and acuity of mental disorders among children and adolescents have placed pressure on services, including inpatient care, and resulted in young people being admitted at-distance or to adult wards. Little empirical research has investigated such admissions. OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence, clinical characteristics and 6-month outcomes of patients aged 13-17 years old admitted at-distance (>50 miles from home or out of region) to general adolescent psychiatric wards or to adult psychiatric wards. METHODS: Surveillance over 13 months (February 2021-February 2022) using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Surveillance System including baseline and 6-month follow-up questionnaires. FINDINGS: Data were collected about 290 admissions (follow-up rate 99% (288 of 290); sample were 73% female, mean age 15.8 years). The estimated adjusted yearly incidence of at-distance admission was 13.7-16.9 per 100 000 young people 13-17 years old. 38% were admitted >100 miles from home and 8% >200 miles. The most common diagnoses at referral were depression (34%) and autism spectrum disorder (20%); other common referral concerns included suicide risk (80%), emotional dysregulation (53%) and psychotic symptoms (22%). Over two-fifths (41%) waited ≥1 week for a bed, with 55% waiting in general hospital settings. At 6-month follow-up, 20% were still in hospital, the majority in at-distance placements. CONCLUSIONS: At-distance and adult ward admissions for patients aged <18 remain an ongoing challenge for healthcare provision and have an impact on acute hospital resource use. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Long waits in non-specialist settings increase pressure across the healthcare system, highlighting the need to improve local service provision and commissioning to reflect identified clinical needs.

What do young people who self-harm find helpful? A comparative study of young people with and without experience of being looked after in care.

BACKGROUND: Self-harm amongst young people is an increasing problem, with looked-after young people at higher risk. Despite this, little research exists on what young people who self-harm find helpful. METHOD: One hundred and twenty-six 11-21 year olds (53 who had experience of the care system and 73 who did not) were recruited from the community and NHS. All participants had self-harmed in the past 6 months. Participants completed an Audio Computer-Assisted Self-interview (ACASI) regarding their views about the support they had received, how helpful it was, and what further help they felt they needed. RESULTS: Looked-after young people reported the three most helpful sources of support were Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), friends and pets and the least helpful were CAMHS, Accident and Emergency (A&E) and Social services. For non-looked-after young people, CAMHS, counselling and Harmless (user-led support service for self-harm) were most helpful and CAMHS, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and general practitioner (GP) were the least. Compared with the other group, more looked-after young people had received help from A&E and CAMHS, whereas more non-looked-after young people had accessed GPs, parents, psychological therapies, self-help books and websites. More looked-after young people found support groups helpful, and more non-looked-after young people reported that distraction techniques, medication and their siblings were helpful. CONCLUSION: Young people who self-harm have mixed views about CAMHS. Differences in the pattern of access and preferences for support between looked-after and non-looked-after young people should be reflected in service availability and commissioning. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE: Little is known about what young people who self-harm find helpful, particularly for looked-after young people. CAMHS was named amongst the most helpful and the least helpful services by both looked-after and non-looked-after young people. Social services and A&E were frequently cited amongst the least helpful sources of support. Young people report finding informal support helpful, including family and friends. There appears to be a need for explorations of the reasons behind the apparent negative perception of statutory services in young people, and what is required to shift that.

Relative age and ADHD symptoms, diagnosis and medication: a systematic review.

There is a growing international literature investigating the relationship between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and younger relative age within the school year, but results have been mixed. There are no published systematic reviews on this topic. This study aimed to systematically review the published studies on the relative age effect in ADHD. Systematic database searches of: Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, ERIC, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection and The Cochrane Library were conducted. Studies were selected which investigated the relative age effect in ADHD in children and adolescents. Twenty papers were included in the review. Sixteen (of 20) papers reported a significantly higher proportion of relatively younger children being diagnosed with ADHD and/or receiving medication for this. Meta-analyses involving 17 of these 20 papers revealed a modest relative age effect in countries with higher prescribing rates, risk ratio = 1.27 (95% CI 1.19-1.35) for receipt of medication. The relative age effect is well demonstrated in countries with known higher prescribing rates. Amongst other countries, there is also increasing evidence for the relative age effect, however, there is high heterogeneity amongst studies. Further research is needed to understand the possible reasons under-pinning the relative age effect and to inform attempts to reduce it.

Trends in hospital admission rates for anorexia nervosa in Oxford (1968-2011) and England (1990-2011): database studies.

OBJECTIVES: To report on long-term trends in hospital admission rates for anorexia nervosa using two English datasets. DESIGN: We used data on hospital day-case and inpatient care across five decades in the Oxford Record Linkage Study (ORLS), and similar data for all England from 1990. We analysed rates of admission for anorexia nervosa in people aged 10-44 years, using hospital episodes (counting every admission) and first-recorded admissions (counting only the first record for each person). SETTING: Former Oxford NHS Region; and England. PARTICIPANTS: None; anonymous statistical records were used. RESULTS: In the longstanding ORLS, the age-standardised first-recorded admission rate for women was 2.7 (95% confidence interval 1.6-3.8) per 100,000 female population aged 10-44 years in 1968-1971; 2.7 (2.1-3.3) in 1992-1996; and 6.3 (5.5-7.2) in 2007-2011. Male rates were zero in the 1960s; 0.07 (0.0-0.1) per 100,000 men in 1992-1996; and 0.4 (0.2-0.6) in 2007-2011. In England, female rates increased from 4.2 (4.0-4.4) in 1998-2001 to 6.9 (6.7-7.1) in 2007-2011; and the corresponding male rates were 0.2 (0.1-0.3) and 0.5 (0.4-0.6). Episode-based admission rates rose more than person-based rates. The highest rates by far were in girls and women aged 15-19 years. CONCLUSIONS: In recent years, anorexia nervosa has become a greater burden on secondary care: not only have admission rates increased but so too have multiple admissions per person with anorexia nervosa. The increase in admission rates might reflect an increase in prevalence rates of anorexia nervosa in the general population, but other explanations, including lower clinical thresholds for admission, are possible and are discussed.

The clinical profile of high-risk mentally disordered offenders.

PURPOSE: High-risk mentally disordered offenders present a diverse array of clinical characteristics. To contain and effectively treat this heterogeneous population requires a full understanding of the group's clinical profile. This study aimed to identify and validate clusters of clinically coherent profiles within one high-risk mentally disordered population in the UK. METHODS: Latent class analysis (a statistical technique to identify clustering of variance from a set of categorical variables) was applied to 174 cases using clinical diagnostic information to identify the most parsimonious model of best fit. Validity analyses were performed. RESULTS: Three identified classes were a 'delinquent' group (n = 119) characterised by poor educational history, strong criminal careers and high recidivism risk; a 'primary psychopathy' group (n = 38) characterised by good educational profiles and homicide offences and an 'expressive psychopathy' group (n = 17) presenting the lowest risk and characterised by more special educational needs and sexual offences. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals classed as high-risk mentally disordered offenders can be loosely segregated into three discrete subtypes: 'delinquent', 'psychopathic' or 'expressive psychopathic', respectively. These groups represent different levels of risk to society and reflect differing treatment needs.