Perspectives on Mental Health Evaluation in Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension: A Call to Action

Abstract

The already high rates of anxiety and depression among healthy children have increased further since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020. Prepandemic data suggest children with chronic disease were already experiencing increased rates of anxiety and depression as compared to their healthy peers. There is currently a paucity of literature on the prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients with pediatric pulmonary hypertension. In addition, there are no practice recommendations regarding mental health screening in this population. We evaluated provider perception of mental health screening at 14 pediatric pulmonary hypertension care centers across the United States and Canada using a cross-sectional survey. Thirty-seven providers from 14 pediatric pulmonary hypertension centers in North America completed the survey. Health care providers caring for pediatric pulmonary hypertension patients perceive their patient cohort to frequently experience anxiety and depression. In addition, these providers believe that their patients would benefit from formalized, and routine, assessment of anxiety and depression with referral to mental health services as appropriate. This highlights the need to better understand the prevalence of anxiety and depression in pediatric pulmonary hypertension patients and to establish formal mental health screening practices within pediatric pulmonary hypertension care centers.