title: Child Mental Health Services in the Emergency Department: Disparities in Access.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recent research suggests that increasing numbers of caregivers are bringing their children to the emergency department (ED) for mental health services and that a large proportion of these children have Medicaid as their insurance. The objective of this study was to examine the characteristics of children with Medicaid who present with psychiatric conditions in Florida hospital EDs.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective research design was used, and the insurance claims of children who went to the ED for mental health care were analyzed. A logistic regression model was constructed to determine whether age, race, ethnicity, sex, and residence in an area with mental health professional shortage increased the odds of a psychiatric ED visit for children with Medicaid.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All 5 predictor variables were significantly associated with the likelihood of an ED visit for mental health reasons by children with Medicaid.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ED is an entry point into the child mental health system of care for children with Medicaid.
authors.affiliation: From the *Department of Psychiatry, †Center for Health Equity and Quality Research, and ‡Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Florida-Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bautista
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Freer
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kalynych
authors.forename: Phyllis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hendry
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017028:Caregivers; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States