Youth suicide and hospital-presenting suicide attempts: Examination of risk factors for multiple suicide attempts in adolescence

Abstract

Background: The suicide rate among adolescents around the world has increased rapidly. There are many risk factors for attempting suicide, but not all have been clarified yet. Therefore, it is very important to identify risk factors. This study evaluated adolescents with a history of suicide attempts and their association with chronic diseases. Besides, to check whether they attempted suicide multiple times. Other clinical features related to multiple suicide attempts were investigated. Method: This study used a multicentre, retrospective cross-sectional design; 253 adolescents admitted to emergency departments in 2019 for suicide attempts were evaluated. Results: Adolescents with chronic disease were at greater risk for both single and multiple suicide attempts and patients had a 6.14 times higher risk of multiple attempts ( p = .013). The likelihood of multiple attempts did not differ according to the presence of somatic or psychiatric disease. Multiple attempters were more likely to poison themselves with their therapeutic drugs ( p = .002). Conclusion: When adolescents with a chronic disease present to the emergency services after a single suicide attempt using their therapeutic drugs, families should be informed regarding the potential for further attempts.