Mental Health Disparities in Hospital Admissions for Youth with and without Autism

The purpose of this study was to compare mental health diagnoses in a sample of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and youth without ASD (non-ASD) admitted to inpatient hospitals across the United States. We hypothesized that autistic youth would have a greater proportion of co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses compared to their typically developing peers. To do this, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) 2019 Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID). We compared the proportions of co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses between autistic and typically developing youth. Compared to 21% of non-ASD admissions, 36% of the ASD admissions were for a primary mental health condition. Overall, youth with ASD were significantly more likely to have a co-occurring mental health diagnosis (<em>p</em> < .01, V = 0.08), a diagnosis of unspecified mood disorder (<em>p </em>< .01, V = 0.08), a disruptive and conduct disorder (<em>p</em> < .01, V = 0.10), bipolar disorder (<em>p</em> < .01, V = 0.04), an anxiety disorder (<em>p</em> < .01, V = 0.04), and a psychotic disorder (<em>p</em> < .01, V = 0.04). We observed no significant differences for major depressive disorder (<em>p</em> > .05). These results add to the growing evidence suggesting increased risk for psychopathology and psychiatric hospitalization in autistic youth. This finding may reflect unmet mental healthcare needs for autistic youth at lower levels of care. Research addressing autistic healthcare needs, such as the relationship between care outcomes and provider knowledge, is necessary to improve mental health outcomes in autistic children.