Pediatr Emerg Med J.  2020 Dec;7(2):85-93. 10.22470/pemj.2020.00066.

Clinical features of adolescents with suicide attempt and the factors associated with their outcomes: poisoning versus non-poisoning

• Lee MH
• Jang JH
• Cho JS
• Choi WS
• Choi JY

• KMID: 2511127
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.22470/pemj.2020.00066

Abstract

Purpose
Methods for suicide attempt are largely divided into poisoning and non-poisoning, which differ in clinical features and severity. We aimed to investigate the clinical features of adolescents with suicide attempt and factors associated with poor outcomes from the 2 methods.
Methods
A retrospective study was conducted on adolescents (10-18 years) who visited the emergency department after suicide attempt from 2011 through 2018. The adolescents were divided into the poisoning and non-poisoning groups. We analyzed the differences of clinical features and outcomes between the 2 groups. Poor outcomes were defined as hospitalization to the intensive care unit or death. Factors associated with poor outcomes were investigated using multivariable logistic regression.
Results
Of 4,335 adolescents in total, 2,134 (49.2%) were categorized as the poisoning group. In this group, the adolescents with poor outcomes used acetaminophen most frequently (26.5%), followed by sedative or antipsychotics (22.3%). In the non-poisoning group, those with the outcomes used fall from height (73.2%) most commonly, followed by hanging (21.0%). The factors associated with the outcomes were age (for increment of 1 year; odds ratio, 1.11; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-1.22) in the poisoning group, and being boys (1.34; 1.03-1.73) and non-use of alcohols (2.87; 1.73-4.74) in the non-poisoning group.
Conclusion
In adolescents who used poisoning for suicide attempt, increasing age is associated with poor outcomes. The outcomes are associated with being boys and non-use of alcohols in those who used non-poisoning methods.

Keyword

Adolescent; Child; Emergency Service, Hospital; Poisoning; Suicide, Attempted; Wounds and Injuries