Emergency Department Visits for Non-suicidal Self-harm, Suicidal Ideation, and Suicide Attempts in Children and Adolescents

Self-harm presentations to emergency departments (ED) have become a growing concern, yet little is known about self-harm visits in pediatric EDs. This study aimed to investigate the clinical and demographic characteristics of patients who presented to the pediatric ED between 2012 and 2017 with non-suicidal self-harm (NSSH, n = 63, 60.3% female, M = 14.25 years), suicidal ideation (SI, n = 75, 57.3% female, M = 14.83 years), and suicide attempts (SA, n = 461, 82.9% female, M = 15.41 years). Also, predictors of SA were investigated. Of the patients, 79.4% had at least a psychiatric disorder. Depression was the most common diagnosis in the SI and SA groups, and autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability were the leading diagnoses in the NSSH group. Self-poisoning was the most common method, and older age, female sex, having relational problems, and prior or current psychiatric admissions were the most important predictive factors of SA. NSSH, SI, and SA exhibit different features in early life. EDs provide an important opportunity for initiating developmentally appropriate interventions to reduce future risks.

Automated summary

The study found that self-harm presentations in pediatric emergency departments have different clinical and demographic characteristics, as well as leading diagnoses. Self-poisoning was the most common method, with age, gender, relational problems, and psychiatric admission history being important predictive factors for suicide attempts.