Of the 7,197 admissions for children and young people in 2018, 164 were involuntary admissions (2.28%). This legal measure is increasingly applied in the Walloon Region, but shows a decreasing trend in the Brussels Capital Region and the Flemish Region.
Evolution of the number of involuntary admissions
in psychiatric services for children and young people
per region in PH and PDGH
Around 16% of the children and young people discharged from a PDGH or PH were readmitted to the same hospital the same year[1].
Number of repeat admissions to psychiatric services for adults in PH and PDGH (2018)
[1] Figures are only available for readmissions to the same hospital, which may lead to an underestimation of the actual number of readmissions.
Although the number of admissions is increasing, we see - as is the case in adult psychiatry - that the average number of occupant days in a given year for a residential hospitalisation in a K-service is decreasing. On the other hand, we can see that the average number of occupant days in a year of day or night hospitalisation is increasing.
Evolution of the average number of occupant days per stay
in a year in a psychiatric service for children and young people in PH and PDGH
More than 80% of all ended stays for children and young people in PH and PDGH are shorter than 3 months. 2.4% stay longer than a year.
Duration of stay in psychiatric services
for children and young people in PH and PDGH
The number of stays in psychiatric services for children and young people (K, k1 and k2) has been increasing sharply in recent years, both in PDGH and PH[1],[2].
Evolution of the number of hospital stays in psychiatric services for children and young people in PH and PDGH
We can also see that more boys were admitted initially. In recent years, we have seen a steady increase in the number of admissions of girls, to such an extent that in 2018 more girls than boys were admitted to PH and PDGH.
Evolution of the number of hospital stays
in psychiatric services for children and young people
in PH and PDGH by gender[3]
Most admissions are in the age categories 10-14 and 15-18 years old. Although young people are allowed to be admitted to adult psychiatry from the age of 15, a service for children and young people (K, k1 or k2) is still often preferred. In certain cases, a patient is still admitted to a psychiatric service for children and young people even after their 18th birthday. It is assumed that this transition age is acceptable up to 23 years old.
Evolution of the number of hospital stays
in psychiatric services for children and young people
in PH and PDGH by age[4][5]
It is striking that children and young people increasingly need residential psychiatric care.
Evolution of the number of stays
in psychiatric services for children and young people
in PH and PDGH by type of hospitalisation
We can observe an increase in both the number of residential admissions and the number of day admissions (k1), whereby the child or young person often stays at home during the weekend.
There are only a few admissions where the child or young person is only in hospital in the evening and at night, but otherwise attends a day programme outside the hospital (k2).
[1] Source: Minimum Psychiatric Data (MPD), FPS Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment
[2] This is the number of registered residential and partial stays in beds for children (code letter K, k1, k2) in the relevant year, regardless of the year of admission and regardless of whether the patient has already been discharged.
[3] Stays for which the sex of the patient is not known, have not been taken into account.
[4] Note: Number of stays of persons older than 18 are not included in this graph. In exceptional cases, it is possible that persons older than 18 stay in a psychiatric service for children and young people. It is also possible that these stays have been registered incorrectly.
[5] Stays for which the age of the patient is not known, have not been taken into account.