Differences in treatment trajectory following brief paediatric inpatient admissions for children and young people with eating disorders.

Objective: Little is known about factors associated with treatment trajectory following brief paediatric admissions for children and young people (CYP) admitted for medical complications of their eating disorder (ED). This project aimed to identify possible factors and ways to improve the usefulness of paediatric admissions. Method: Retrospective NHS data was analysed to explore differences between paediatric admissions followed by community‐based care or inpatient psychiatric care. Twelve parents were interviewed to seek feedback about paediatric admissions. Results: Patients who received subsequent inpatient psychiatric care were unwell for longer, had longer paediatric admissions and more crisis team input, were more likely to have had previous admissions, and had higher parent‐reported anxiety and depression. However, the groups did not significantly differ in ED severity. The interviews identified recommendations for improving paediatric admissions, which included improving understanding of EDs, enhancing communication channels, and providing psychological support to parents. Conclusions: Factors linked with illness severity (but not illness severity itself) appear to be associated with the difference between CYP either returning to community‐based care or requiring more intensive psychiatric input. These factors may help clinicians understand who requires subsequent inpatient care, allowing clinicians to target more intensive support earlier and facilitate smoother transitions between services. Highlights: Children and adolescents appeared less likely to require intensive inpatient psychiatric care within 3 months following discharge from a paediatric ward if they had shorter stays in paediatric hospitals, shorter known duration of their eating disorder, less crisis team input, fewer previous paediatric and psychiatric admissions, and lower parent‐rated anxiety and depression.Paediatric admissions are a valuable component of the treatment pathway, and they could be improved further by improving understanding of eating disorders among staff, enhancing communication between services and with families, and providing psychological support to parents.For some families, paediatric admissions seemed to instigate recovery by helping them to both access necessary treatment and realise the severity of their child's health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]