Emergency Department Visits With Suicidal Ideation: United States, 2016- 2020

Before the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, suicide was the 10th highest cause of death overall and the 2nd highest cause for the 10-34 age group (1,2). Suicidal ideation is defined as thinking about, considering, or planning suicide; is predictive of suicide deaths; and may result in injury and hospitalization (3). An estimated 4.0% to 4.8% of adults aged 18 and over have suicidal ideation each year (4,5). The lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation in the United States is 15.6% (6). This report uses data from the 2016-2020 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to present the annual average emergency department (ED) visit rate per 10,000 people for patients with suicidal ideation.