Use Of Pharmacologic Restraint In Emergency Departments Is Higher Among Young Men With Mental And Behavioral Health Conditions Who Are Black

Young men who are Black (ages 18-21) who arrived at an emergency department with a mental or behavioral health condition had 22% increased odds of receiving pharmacologic restraint when compared to other young patients with similar diagnoses, according to a study in the January 2023 Pediatrics. The study, “Disparities in Pharmacologic Restraint Use in Pediatric Emergency Departments,” examined 545,800 emergency department visits to pediatric hospitals recorded in the Pediatric Health Information System and involved patients ages 3-21 who presented with mental and behavioral health conditions from 2010-2020. The authors found that 22,194 visits (4.1%) involved pharmacologic restraint use, defined as the use of intramuscular or intravenous medication administered during the emergency department visit. In a multivariable logistic regression analysis, in addition to young adult age, Black race, and male sex, pharmacologic restraint was associated with visits originating in the overnight hours or on the weekend and repeat emergency department visits. The study found that pharmacologic restraint was used less frequently at emergency departments that experienced larger annual volumes of mental and behavioral health-related visits. The authors suggest their findings can help inform targeted interventions in high-risk populations to provide more equitable and safe care.

[Embargoed until 12:01 a.m. ET on Monday, Dec. 19. For an embargoed copy of the study, contact AAP Public Affairs. For an interview with the lead author, contact Jessica Berthold at jess.berthold@ucsf.edu.]

###

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.