Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41661220›Full record

ArticlePediatric emergency care2026

External Validation of Diagnosis Codes to Identify Pediatric Mental Health Emergency Department Visits for Aggression.

Julia H Wnorowska, Alexis Harmon, Doug Lorenz, Jennifer A Hoffmann

Abstract readValidation Study
In one paragraph

Article in Pediatric emergency care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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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

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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

4 authors.

Julia H WnorowskaNorthwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Alexis HarmonDepartment of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
Doug LorenzDepartment of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY.
Jennifer A HoffmannDepartment of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.

Funding

Caring Contacts via text message for suicidal adolescents after emergency department dischargeK23MH135206 · NIMH · LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO · PI Jennifer Ann Hoffmann · 2024 to 2026
$570k
NIMH NIH HHS K23 MH135206
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo externally validate a set of 9 ICD-10-CM billing diagnosis codes to identify pediatric ED encounters with agitation and aggression by determining their sensitivity and specificity compared with electronic health record (EHR) review.

methodsWe performed a retrospective cross-sectional single-test diagnostic accuracy study of mental health encounters in the pediatric ED of an academic urban children's hospital, utilizing EHR data for mental health encounters by children 6 to 18 years old from April 12, 2023, to December 30, 2023. The index test was the presence of any of 9 aggression-related diagnosis codes as utilized by Peleggi et al The reference test consisted of a structured EHR review to confirm that agitation/aggression was a reason for the visit. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were calculated with 95% CIs.

resultsWe identified 855 pediatric mental health encounters (63%, 13 to 18 y old, 59% female). The diagnosis code set identified agitation/aggression in 62 encounters (7%), compared with 118 encounters (14%) confirmed to have agitation/aggression based on clinician notes. The 9 diagnosis codes yielded a sensitivity of 40% (95% CI: 31%, 49%) and specificity of 98% (95% CI: 97%, 99%) compared with EHR review, with a positive predictive value of 76% (63%, 85%) and a negative predictive value of 91% (89%, 93%).

conclusionsUpon external validation, a set of 9 billing diagnosis codes had poor sensitivity and excellent specificity for the identification of pediatric ED visits with agitation/aggression. Novel methods such as natural language processing may be needed to accurately identify pediatric ED visits with aggression/agitation.

Indexed as

AggressionEmergency Service, HospitalInternational Classification of DiseasesPsychomotor AgitationAdolescentChildCross-Sectional StudiesElectronic Health RecordsEmergency Room VisitsFemaleHumansMaleRetrospective StudiesSensitivity and Specificityaggressionbehavioral healthmental healthpediatrics

Identifiers

PMID41661220
PMCPMC12888791

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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.