TY - JOUR
T1 - Maternal Mental Health Diagnoses and Infant Emergency Department Use, Hospitalizations, and Death
AU - Abe, Naomi
AU - Baer, Rebecca J.
AU - Jelliffe-Pawlowski, Laura
AU - Chambers, Christina D.
AU - Bandoli, Gretchen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Academic Pediatric Association
PY - 2024/4
Y1 - 2024/4
N2 - Background: The period surrounding childbirth is a uniquely vulnerable time for women and their mental health. We sought to describe the association between maternal mental health diagnoses in the year prior and after birth and infant Emergency Department (ED) utilization, hospitalization, and death. Methods: We studied mothers who gave singleton live birth in California (2011–2017) and their infants using linked infant birth and death certificates and maternal and infant discharge records. Maternal mental health diagnoses in the year before and after birth were identified using International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes. We abstracted infant ED visits, hospitalizations, discharge diagnoses, deaths, and causes of death. Log-linear regression was used to compare relative risks of infant outcomes between mothers with and without mental health diagnoses, adjusting for maternal variables. Results: Of the 3,067,069 mother-infant pairs, 85,047 (2.8%) mothers had at least one mental health diagnosis in the year before and after birth. Infants of mothers with mental health diagnoses were more likely to visit the ED (aRR 1.2, CI:1.1–1.2), have three or more ED visits (aRR 1.4, CI:1.3–1.4), be hospitalized (aRR 1.1, CI:1.04–1.1), and die (aRR 1.7, CI:1.6–1.8) in the first year of life. These infants were also more likely to be diagnosed with accidental injuries, nonaccidental trauma, and non-specific descriptive diagnosis (fussiness/fatigue/brief resolved unexplained event). Conclusion: This large administrative cohort study showed associations between maternal mental health diagnoses and infant acute ED visits, hospitalization, and death. This study underscores the urgent need to understand what is driving these findings and how to mitigate this risk.
AB - Background: The period surrounding childbirth is a uniquely vulnerable time for women and their mental health. We sought to describe the association between maternal mental health diagnoses in the year prior and after birth and infant Emergency Department (ED) utilization, hospitalization, and death. Methods: We studied mothers who gave singleton live birth in California (2011–2017) and their infants using linked infant birth and death certificates and maternal and infant discharge records. Maternal mental health diagnoses in the year before and after birth were identified using International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes. We abstracted infant ED visits, hospitalizations, discharge diagnoses, deaths, and causes of death. Log-linear regression was used to compare relative risks of infant outcomes between mothers with and without mental health diagnoses, adjusting for maternal variables. Results: Of the 3,067,069 mother-infant pairs, 85,047 (2.8%) mothers had at least one mental health diagnosis in the year before and after birth. Infants of mothers with mental health diagnoses were more likely to visit the ED (aRR 1.2, CI:1.1–1.2), have three or more ED visits (aRR 1.4, CI:1.3–1.4), be hospitalized (aRR 1.1, CI:1.04–1.1), and die (aRR 1.7, CI:1.6–1.8) in the first year of life. These infants were also more likely to be diagnosed with accidental injuries, nonaccidental trauma, and non-specific descriptive diagnosis (fussiness/fatigue/brief resolved unexplained event). Conclusion: This large administrative cohort study showed associations between maternal mental health diagnoses and infant acute ED visits, hospitalization, and death. This study underscores the urgent need to understand what is driving these findings and how to mitigate this risk.
KW - infant health
KW - infant health care utilization
KW - parental mental health
KW - relational health
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85184673751&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.acap.2023.11.021
DO - 10.1016/j.acap.2023.11.021
M3 - Article
C2 - 38103588
AN - SCOPUS:85184673751
SN - 1876-2859
VL - 24
SP - 451
EP - 460
JO - Academic Pediatrics
JF - Academic Pediatrics
IS - 3
ER -