Inpatient Care Unit in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that affects social interactions and behavior. The number of children and adolescents with ASD treated in mental health services has been growing in recent years. Knowing clinical and familial characteristics of hospitalized patients with ASD and multidisciplinary approach are crucial for children and adolescents mental health professionals. In this study, 253 Turkish children and adolescents, with and without ASD, treated in psychiatry inpatient care unit were examined. Applied approaches such as medical consultation areas, psychiatric management of mothers, and pharmacological treatment during hospitalization, were studied. In addition to familial and clinical characteristics of patients with ASD, the benefits and the hospitalization conditions were evaluated. Patients with ASD showed a higher tendency on having relatives with a psychiatric disorder than the patients without ASD. A significant difference was found in terms of age, sex, and intellectual functioning, whereas length of stay did not differ drastically. Also, suicide attempts were significantly higher in patients without ASD than in patients with ASD. This study eases the management of hospitalized ASD patients with giving important information of clinical and familial characteristics.

Characterizing the clinical and sociodemographic profiles of hospitalized adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

“…In our study, about 80% of the patients with ASD were males, which is in line with previous studies. Ozbaran et al (2022) found that there were more male inpatients with ASD than female ones. Other previous studies showed that male sex dominance is seen in hospitalized ASD patients (Kuriakose et al, 2018; Taylor et al, 2019).…”

“…Surprisingly, in our study, the rates of major depressive episodes and suicidal thoughts at admission were found to be notably lower in the ASD group than in the non-ASD group. In a study conducted by Ozbaran et al (2022), the rate of suicide attempts was also found to be significantly lower in the ASD group. These findings may be relevant to hospitalized patients with ASD but not to the general population of individuals with ASD and no ID (Newell et al, 2023).…”

“…Studies found that the highest risk factors for hospitalization due to ASD are aggressive behaviors, self-endangerment, comorbidity of mood disorders, sleep problems, comorbid OCD and older age at diagnosis (Siegel and Gabriels, 2014; Righi et al, 2018). The risk of admission increases with age of the individual with ASD (Ozbaran et al, 2022). A study of patients with ASD and ID hospitalized due to behavioral or cognitive regression found environmental triggers (lack of proper care, adjustment disorder) in half the cases, physical problems such as seizures in one-third, and diagnoses of various psychiatric disorders, such as depressive and bipolar disorder, in the rest (Périsse et al, 2010).…”

“…The presence of psychopathology in the mother and siblings of patients with ASD was found to be significantly higher in this group (61.8% and 26.5%, respectively), while only 23.5% of fathers were found to have psychopathology. The most common psychopathologies were major depressive disorder in mothers, ADHD in fathers and ASD in siblings (Ozbaran et al, 2022). Some factors were found to have a positive effect on ASD patients, such as living in an area with easy access to specialized health care providers and being female.…”