149. Who Uses an Adolescent Ward? Trends in Subspecialty Admissions to a General Adolescent Inpatient Unit in a Tertiary Children's Hospital

Abstract

Advocates of adolescent health have long argued for the development of dedicated inpatient units. In Australia, adolescent wards have been established in all but one of the major children's hospitals and will be a feature of all three new children's hospitals currently being built (in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth). Despite growing interest in the development of adolescent inpatient facilities, and evidence they improve quality, there is little in the published literature describing the case-mix of those admitted to an adolescent ward.