Gender Differences in Youth Suicide and Healthcare Service Use

Healthcare service use among suicide decedents must be well characterized and understood since a key strategy for preventing suicide is to improve healthcare providers' ability to effectively detect and treat those in need.

To determine gender differences in healthcare service use 12 months prior to suicide.

Data for 1,231 young Quebec residents (≤ 25 years) who died by suicide between 2000 and 2007 were collected from public health insurance agency databases and coroner registers. Healthcare visits were categorized according to the setting (emergency department [ED], outpatient, and hospital) and their nature (mental health vs. non-mental health).

Girls were more likely than boys (82.5% vs. 74.9%, p = .011) to have used healthcare services in the year prior to death. A higher proportion of girls had used outpatient services (79.0% vs. 69.5%, p = .003), had been hospitalized (25.7% vs. 15.6%, p < .001) and had received a mental health-related diagnosis (46.7% vs. 33.1%, p < .001). However, no gender differences were observed in ED visits (59.5% vs. 54.5%, p = .150).

There is an important proportion of suicide decedents who did not receive a mental health diagnosis and healthcare services in the year prior to death. Future studies should focus on examining gender-specific individual and health system barriers among suicide decedents as well as the quality of care offered regarding detection and treatment.