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Abstract
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uicidal ideation and suicide attempts are common during adolescence, with an international prevalence of 14-23% for suicidal ideation, and 5-17% for suicide attempts among people younger than 22 years. Despite this high prevalence, only a minority of adolescents seek medical help for suicide-related concerns. Yet, when they do, rapid interventions are often necessary given the acute risks for health and safety.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis of 42 studies, Sheri Madigan and colleagues compared paediatric emergency department visits for suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and self-harm before the COVID-19 pandemic with those during the pandemic, among adolescents younger than 19 years. They identified an increase in visits for attempted suicide during the pandemic (rate ratio 1·22, 90% CI 1·08-1·37). Among older adolescents (mean age 16·3 years), emergency department visits for self-harm increased (1·18, 1·00-1·39), but they did not for younger adolescents (mean age 9·0 years). When considering emergency department visits for suicidal ideation, there was an increase (1·08, 0·93-1·25). These findings are striking given that the authors found that rates of emergency department visits for all health concerns in this age group decreased during the period (0·68, 0·62-0·75), including for other mental health problems (0·81, 0·74-0·89). Their search identified data from 18 countries (78% of studies were conducted in North America or Europe), representing more than 11 million emergency department visits...
Language: en |