ArticleThe mental health clinician2026
Pharmacotherapy for pediatric and adolescent agitation in an inpatient behavioral health unit.
Article in The mental health clinician, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Pro re nata (PRN) medications can be administered for the treatment of agitation. Evidence-based recommendations for the pharmacologic treatment of agitation in children and adolescents admitted to a behavioral health unit are limited. The primary objective of this study was to analyze medication use patterns for managing agitation in a pediatric and adolescent inpatient behavioral health unit. The secondary objective was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of commonly administered PRN medications in this population. Methods: This retrospective chart review included patients who received a 1-time or PRN medication for agitation while admitted to a pediatric and adolescent behavioral health unit between July 1, 2020, and June 31, 2022. Primary outcomes examined agents administered and the route and rate of concurrent medication administration. Secondary outcomes included administration of subsequent medications, the use of restraint or seclusion as a surrogate marker for effectiveness, and rate of adverse events for safety. Results: A total of 191 patients were included in the final analysis. There were 1238 doses of 1-time or PRN medication administered for agitation during the study period. Antipsychotics were administered most frequently (661, 53.4%). However, the most commonly administered medications were diphenhydramine (327, 26.4%), lorazepam (235, 19%), and olanzapine (224, 18.1%). Antipsychotic-induced extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) occurred in 3 instances (0.24%), with all being managed with diphenhydramine. Discussion: When treating agitation in pediatric and adolescent patients admitted to an inpatient behavioral health unit, antipsychotics were administered most frequently. It appears that most doses were well tolerated, except for EPS in a subset of patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.