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BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
AFTER DROPPING IN 2015, CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE-RELATED HOSPITALIZATIONS RISE IN 2016.
Description Of Indicator
This indicator reports the number of inpatient hospitalizations in Orange County among 0-17 year olds related to serious mental health and substance use conditions. The data include rates of inpatient hospitalization for broad behavioral health conditions and rates of inpatient hospitalization per 10,000 children broken down by behavioral health diagnosis, race/ethnicity, and city of residence.
Why is this important?
The presence of behavioral health disorders can have a profound impact on individuals and families, as well as systems within the community, such as schools or the juvenile justice system. By tracking hospitalization rates related to behavioral health disorders, health officials can more readily identify trends and monitor the needs of the community while directing needed resources (e.g., training, education, counseling, outreach, substance abuse treatment, etc.) to areas in need. For example, an increase in hospitalization rates due to heroin use may signal a serious trend in a local community and may lead to resource allocation to combat the increase in use of this harmful drug.
Findings
• Overall, hospitalization rates for serious mental illness and substance abuse conditions for children increased by 44%, from a low of 16.8 per 10,000 children in 2007 to 24.2 per 10,000 children in 2016.
• This increase is driven by an increase in hospitalizations for serious mental illness, which grew 73%, from a low of 11.5 per 10,000 children in 2007 to 19.9 per 10,000 children in 2016.
• Major Depression and Mood Disorders accounted for two-thirds (66%) of all such hospitalizations, followed by Bipolar (10%),
Schizophrenia/Psychoses (4%), and Schizoaffective Disorders (3%).
• Admissions for substance-related diagnoses accounted for 2% of all hospitalizations for children in 2016. This is a decrease of 70% over the past decade to 0.5 per 10,000 children.
• White youth accounted for 42% of all mental illness and substance abuse-related hospitalizations and Hispanic children accounted for 41%.
• While males accounted for a little more than half (53%) of substance-related hospitalizations, females accounted for the majority (62%) of mental illness hospitalizations.
• Slightly more than half (55%) of the 1,733 hospitalizations among Orange County youth occurred at hospitals located in Orange County, while the rest were in neighboring counties of Los Angeles (28%), San Bernardino (16%), San Diego (1%), Riverside (<1%), and Ventura (<1%) Counties. The majority of these hospitalization were covered by private insurance (45%) and Medi-Cal (51%).
• In 2015, 12.3% of adolescents aged 12 to 17 years had at least one major depressive episode in California and 11.9% in the United States. Overall, both proportions were higher than previous years between 2005 to 2013 (ranging from 8.8% to 11.4%).1
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Related-Hospitalization Rates, Rate per 10,000 Children
2007 to 2016
Total
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Source: Orange County Health Care Agency, Health Policy - Research
Note: Other includes mental disorders such as other unspecified mood disorders, conduct disorders, and disorders related to sleep, eating, elimination, and pain.
2016
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Source: Orange County Health Care Agency, Health Policy - Research
Notes: Rates for Black children are not included due to inability to calculate rates due to estimates for small case numbers and populations. Other Mental Disorders include other unspecified mood disorders, conduct disorders, and disorders related to sleep, eating, elimination, and pain.
Rate
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