Rising Prevalence of Pediatric Catatonia Presenting to Inpatient Care: A Retrospective Analysis

There has been recent concern for the rising rates of catatonia diagnosis in pediatric populations. We set out to determine if the rates of catatonia diagnosis have risen at an academic pediatric medical center.

The clinical records of 131 patients were obtained from encounters during 2018-2023 in which a diagnosis of catatonia was made in the pediatric emergency department or inpatient medical hospital. Ordinary least squares regression and linear regression analyses were used to determine if the prevalence of catatonia diagnoses, underlying diagnostic category, and Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale scores changed over time.

A 10-fold increase was observed in catatonia diagnoses between 2018 and 2023. A statistically significant relationship between the year of pediatric catatonia diagnoses was discovered (p = 0.01), with an R² value of 0.83 suggesting that approximately 83% of the variance can be attributed to the passage of time. Both medical and psychiatric causes of catatonia showed an upward trend over the course of the study period. The average Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale scores showed a slight upward trend but were not statistically significant.

In this sample of pediatric patients hospitalized at a large academic medical center, the rate of catatonia diagnoses related to both medical and psychiatric causes rose between 2018 and 2023. These data are consistent with previous evidence highlighting an increase in catatonia diagnoses during this period. The COVID-19 pandemic and increasing awareness of catatonia in children may have contributed to this trend. These data support the importance of investigation into this trend and improving education on catatonia for clinicians and the public.