Background: Young people are at risk of falling through the care gap after leaving child and adolescent mental health services CAMHS despite an ongoing need for mental health support. Currently, little is known about the predictors of transitioning to adult mental health services AMHS , and associated healthcare and societal costs as young people cross the transition boundary. Objective: To conduct a secondary data analysis exploring predictors of transitioning or falling through the gap and associated costs.
Methods: Data were used from a longitudinal study, which followed young people from seven European countries for 2 years after reaching their CAMHS boundary. Predictors of transitioning including sociodemographic and clinical variables and longitudinal resource use were compared for young people who transitioned to AMHS versus those who fell through the gap.
Healthcare costs fell for all young people over the study, with a sharper decrease for those who fell through the gap. Conclusions: Total healthcare costs fell for all participants, indicating that the intensity of mental health support reduces for all young people as they cross the CAMHS boundary, regardless of clinical need.
Clinical implications: It is important that alternative forms of mental health support are available for young people who do not meet the AMHS care threshold but still have mental health needs after leaving CAMHS. Published by BMJ. Abstract Background: Young people are at risk of falling through the care gap after leaving child and adolescent mental health services CAMHS despite an ongoing need for mental health support.
