The Incidence of Catatonia Diagnosis Among Pediatric Patients Discharged From General Hospitals in the United States: A Kids' Inpatient Database Study

OBJECTIVE: Catatonia is a neuropsychiatric condition occurring across the age spectrum and associated with great morbidity and mortality. While prospective cohorts have investigated catatonia incidence among psychiatric patients, no studies have comprehensively explored the incidence of catatonia in general hospitals. We examine the incidence of catatonia diagnosis, demographics of catatonia patients, comorbidities, and inpatient procedures utilized among pediatric patients hospitalized with catatonia in the United States. METHODS: The Kids' Inpatient Database, a national all-payors sample of pediatric hospitalizations in general hospitals, was examined for the year 2019. Hospitalizations with a discharge diagnosis of catatonia were included in the analysis. Hospitalizations with catatonia as the primary discharge diagnosis were compared to hospitalizations with catatonia as a secondary discharge diagnosis. RESULTS: A total of 900 (95% CI: 850–949) pediatric discharges (291 with catatonia as a primary diagnosis, 609 with catatonia as a secondary diagnosis) occurred during the study year. Mean age was 15.6 ± 2.6 years, and 9.9% were under age 13. Comorbidities were common among patients with catatonia, with psychotic disorders (165; 18.3%), major depressive disorder (69; 7.7%), bipolar disorder (39; 4.3%) and substance-related disorders (20; 2.2%) as the most common primary diagnoses. There was significant comorbidity with neurologic illness, developmental disorders, autism spectrum disorder, and inflammatory conditions. In total 390 catatonia discharges (43.3%) included at least one procedure during admission. CONCLUSIONS: catatonia is rarely diagnosed in pediatric patients in general hospitals but is associated with significant and severe psychiatric and medical comorbidities. Further research is needed into the optimal diagnosis, workup, and treatment of catatonia in pediatric patients.