Hospital admissions in adolescents with mental disorders in Spain over the last two decades: a mental health crisis?

Mental disorders account for a large and increasing health burden worldwide. Characterizing the spectrum of mental disorders and trends over time in adolescents should influence education policies and support preventative strategies at schools. Retrospective study of all hospitalizations in Spain in adolescents 11-18-years old, including mental disorders as diagnosis using the Spanish National Registry of Hospital Discharges. Information was retrieved from 2000 to 2021. During the 22-year study period there were 2,015,589 hospitalizations in adolescents in Spain, of which 118,609 (5.9%) had mental disorders. The rate of psychiatric diagnoses significantly increased from 3.9% in 2000 to 9.5% in 2021. Females accounted for 55.1% of admissions. Mean age at admission declined from 17 to 15 years-old from 2000 to 2021. Mean hospital stay was 10.6 days. Mean in-hospital mortality was 0.24%. By rate order, diagnoses were: substance use disorders (SUD) (40%) > eating disorders (15%) > anxiety/posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (13%) > attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (9%) > major depression (8%) > schizophrenia/psychosis (6%) > autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (6%) > sleep disorder (3%) > suicidal behavior (2%) > sexual disorders (1%). A significant gender dichotomy was noticed, with female predominance for internalizing disorders (i.e., anxiety, depression, suicidal behavior and eating disorders) whereas externalizing disorders (i.e., SUD, ADHD, ASD, schizophrenia and other psychoses) predominated in males. Suicidal behavior and male sex were independent predictors of in-hospital death in multivariate analysis. After the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitalizations due to mental disorders in adolescents increased by 51% in 2021. There is a growing crisis of mental health among adolescents in Spain. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has unveiled the high rate and severity of psychiatric disorders among youth, a steadily increase has occurred since the beginning of the millennium. Primary preventative strategies should be adapted to distinct and more prevalent mental disorders in adolescents.