Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33040766›Full record

ArticleBJPsych open2020

Problem severity and waiting times for young people accessing mental health services.

Julian Edbrooke-Childs, Jessica Deighton

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BJPsych open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
38citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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  16. Can We Help Our Physicians and Our Profession?Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Julian Edbrooke-ChildsEvidence Based Practice Unit, University College London & Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0401-4058
Jessica DeightonEvidence Based Practice Unit, University College London & Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9516-7545

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAccess to timely care is a quality standard underpinning many international healthcare models, and long waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services are often reported as a barrier to help-seeking.

aimsThe aim of this study was to examine whether young people with more severe problems have shorter waiting times for mental health services.

methodMultilevel multinomial regression analysis controlling for service-area deprivation, age, gender, ethnicity, referral source and contextual factors was conducted on N = 21 419 episodes of care (mean age 12.37 years (s.d. = 3.71), 11 712 (55%) female) using data from child and adolescent mental health services.

resultsThere was high variation in waiting times, which ranged from 0 days to 1629 days (mean 50.65 days (s.d. = 78.03), median 32 days). Compared with young people with less severe problems young people with severe problems, self-harm, psychosis or eating disorders were less likely to experience longer waiting times. Moreover, referrals from sources other than primary care were generally less likely to have longer waiting times than referrals from primary care sources, especially referral from accident and emergency services.

conclusionsThe findings suggest that young people with more severe problems had shorter waiting times. Intermediary information and resources for support before access to services is needed to prevent escalation of problems and to support individuals and families while waiting for care. Interventions to reduce waiting times should be considered without compromising on the quality and experience of care that young people and families deserve when seeking help.

Indexed as

accessChild and adolescentmental healthwaiting time

Identifiers

PMID33040766
PMCPMC7576668

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LicenceCC BY
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.