Personality disorders in pediatric and adolescent populations: Hospital discharge rates in Chile, 2021-2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52611/confluencia.2026.1903Keywords:
Adolescent, Chile, Epidemiology, Hospitalization, Personality disordersAbstract
Introduction: Personality disorders may manifest during adolescence and be associated with functional impairment and crises requiring hospitalization. In Chile, information on their epidemiological patterns among children and adolescents is limited. Objective: To describe hospital discharge rate for personality disorders among individuals aged 5 to 19 years in Chile between 2021 and 2024. Methodology: An observational, descriptive, retrospective study based on records from the Department of Health Statistics and Information. Hospital discharge rates were calculated by year, sex, and age group, along with mean length of hospital stay and distribution of discharge diagnoses. Result: A total of 5.821 hospital discharges were recorded, with an overall hospital discharge rate of 40,16 per 100.000 inhabitants, increasing from 30,00 in 2021 to 45,76 in 2024. Females had a higher hospital discharge rate than males (67,63 versus 13,88 per 100.000 inhabitants), and the 15-19-year age group had the highest rate (87,38 per 100.000 inhabitants). The mean length of hospital stay was 15,23 days. Emotionally unstable personality disorder (46,37%) and unspecified personality disorder (41,49%) accounted for 87,86% of all discharges. Conclusion: Hospital discharge rates increased during the study period, with a greater burden of hospitalization among females and adolescents aged 15-19 years. These findings provide national epidemiological information and may help guide detection strategies and the planning of child and adolescent mental health services. The descriptive design does not allow the causes of the observed differences to be established.
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