Performance of an Electronic Universal Mental Health Screening Tool in Pediatric Emergency Departments

Rates of suicide, anxiety, and depression have soared in US youth, and professional organizations strongly urge earlier identification, particularly in pediatric emergency departments (PEDs). However, there are few commonly used suicide screeners that also identify other mental health (MH) problems. A new, electronically administered instrument, the K-CAT, screens for suicide and multiple MH problems. We hypothesized that the K-CAT would enhance suicide identification compared with routine screening and identify significant anxiety and depression in youth presenting with non-MH chief complaints.

This observational study was conducted in 2 PEDs. Eligible youth were 7 to 17 accompanied by a caregiver without: severe medical concerns, difficult behaviors, limited verbal language, or only a psychiatric complaint. Of the 341 eligible, 241 (70.7%) were screened, and 228 both presented with a non-MH problem and had complete K-CAT data. A Fisher exact test determined whether suicidal behaviors/ideation rates differed between the K-CAT and retrospective chart review data.

Seventy-four or 32.46% of youth scored positive for suicide, anxiety, and/or depression on the K-CAT. Females were more likely to screen positive ( P <0.001). Compared with the retrospective data, more youth were identified with suicide risk by the K-CAT (3.95% vs. 0%; P =0.004). Youth identified by the K-CAT were 62.5% female and 33.3% 7 to 11 years.

The K-CAT increases the identification of suicidal ideation and behaviors overall and in younger children. It identifies significant rates of depression and anxiety in youth and could be an important first step in identifying MH problems in youth.