TY - JOUR
T1 - Coming of age in Ireland: The twilight zone!
T2 - The twilight zone!
AU - O'Gorman, Clodagh
AU - Power, Bronwyn
AU - Stewart, P.
AU - Stone, G.
AU - O’Reilly, P.
AU - Costigan, C.
AU - Murphy, A. M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Irish Medical Association. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/10
Y1 - 2018/10
N2 - Aim To describe the healthcare needs of adolescent patients inhabiting the ‘seventh age of childhood’ in our region with a view towards future workforce and infrastructure planning. Methods This is a retrospective descriptive study of patients aged between 14 and 16 years presenting to each of the six hospitals in our hospital group over a 10 year period (01.07.2006-1.07.2016) using electronic databases. Results There were 10,992 hospital admissions, 41,456 outpatient appointments and an average of 1,847 attendances per year at our Emergency Department in this age group. Seventeen percent (n=1,873) of patients were admitted to age appropriate wards. Only 11.3% (n=1,242) of our cohort were admitted under the care of a Paediatrician. Conclusion The Irish healthcare agenda needs to be advanced to ensure the optimal health for this valuable, yet vulnerable generation. Further investment will help shape the fledgling discipline of ‘adolescent health’ in Ireland.
AB - Aim To describe the healthcare needs of adolescent patients inhabiting the ‘seventh age of childhood’ in our region with a view towards future workforce and infrastructure planning. Methods This is a retrospective descriptive study of patients aged between 14 and 16 years presenting to each of the six hospitals in our hospital group over a 10 year period (01.07.2006-1.07.2016) using electronic databases. Results There were 10,992 hospital admissions, 41,456 outpatient appointments and an average of 1,847 attendances per year at our Emergency Department in this age group. Seventeen percent (n=1,873) of patients were admitted to age appropriate wards. Only 11.3% (n=1,242) of our cohort were admitted under the care of a Paediatrician. Conclusion The Irish healthcare agenda needs to be advanced to ensure the optimal health for this valuable, yet vulnerable generation. Further investment will help shape the fledgling discipline of ‘adolescent health’ in Ireland.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85058736958&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 30556667
AN - SCOPUS:85058736958
SN - 0332-3102
VL - 111
SP - -
JO - Irish Medical Journal
JF - Irish Medical Journal
IS - 9
ER -