A new study led by researchers at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, in collaboration with researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Cambridge Health Alliance, has uncovered concerning disparities in boarding rates of children and adolescents with severe mental health symptoms in emergency departments.
When reviewing more than 4,900 boarding episodes of youth under 17 years old in Massachusetts over an 18-month period, the researchers found there were numerous racial and gender disparities: Black youth were less likely to be admitted to inpatient psychiatric care than White youth. Additionally, transgender and nonbinary youth experienced longer boarding times in the Emergency Department and lower admission rates to inpatient units compared to cisgender females. Nearly half of the boarding episodes did not result in inpatient admission.