Multiple emergency department visits and suicidal behavior in children and adolescents

Suicidal behaviour is a growing problem in child and adolescents, and the Emergency Department (ED) is often where the first contact with Mental Health occurs. Here we factors associated with suicidal behaviour in this children and adolescents attended at the ED.

Our sample consisted of children and adolescents who attended the ED of Hospital 12 de Octubre for psychiatric reasons between January 1st and December 31st, 2022. Inclusion criteria were age under 18 years. No restrictions by diagnosis, ethnicity, nationality, gender or any other variables. We conducted an initial interview with patients in the ED and reviewed patients' digital patient records for the six months following their first visit during 2022.

We found that the variables that were independently associated with a repeated visits for suicidal behaviour were eating problems, transgender identity, emotional dysregulation and previous mental health follow-up.

In our study, we found that ED revisits were concentrated in the first month after the first visit. Just as associated factors and approaches have historically been studied in the adult population, the child and adolescent population needs an even more in-depth study of this alarming situation.