Emergency Department Visits for Suspected Suicide Attempts - United States, 2021-2025

Suicide is a substantial public health problem. In 2024, approximately 49,000 persons died by suicide in the United States, and an estimated 2.9 million persons aged ≥12 years reported having attempted suicide. Emergency department (ED) visits for suspected suicide attempts among adolescents increased during 2020-2021, then decreased in 2022; reports based on more recent data, including ED visits for suicide attempts among older age groups, are lacking. National Syndromic Surveillance Program data were examined overall and by sex and age group to identify changes in ED visits for suspected suicide attempts. During 2021-2025, numbers of ED visits for suspected suicide attempts and proportions of those visits among all ED visits for any reason (visit proportions) were highest among adolescents aged 12-17 years compared with other age groups and were higher among females than among males. Compared with 2021, overall visit proportions in 2025 declined 7.0%, with the largest decreases occurring among adolescents aged 12-17 years (20.8% decline) and females (10.7% decline). Visit proportions increased among adults in age groups ≥26 years (range = 1.4%-15.2%). These findings highlight the need for suicide prevention in all groups, particularly in those with high or increasing proportions of suicide attempts. Timely monitoring of suicide-related data and a comprehensive approach that both prevents suicidal behavior by addressing multiple risk and protective factors and also supports those who have attempted suicide are critical for saving lives.