Some Comments on Current Hospital Medical Services for Adolescents

This paper presents data on the results of a survey of medical facilities available for adolescents in the United States and Canada. Questionnaires were sent to 53 hospitals and replies were received from 49, showing that 24 adolescent wards and 30 adolescent clinics (22 part-time and 8 fulltime) were functioning in the two countries in 1967. Information was obtained about the location of, and patient allocation to, the inpatient facilities and the attitude of the respondents towards a separate ward for adolescents. Regarding the clinics, information was obtained on staffing, patient visits, and most frequent diagnoses. Emergency room and "special clinic" figures were not obtained, hence the leading cause of death in this age group—accidents—does not appear in the figures, which emphasize the considerable morbidity, nationwide, among adolescents from less serious chronic disease.