Study Reveals Patterns of Youth Emergency Visits for Suicide During the Pandemic

Youth aged 5 to 17 were more likely to present to an emergency department (ED) for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the second half of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019, astudy inJAMA Psychiatry has found.Specifically, suicide-related ED visits among female youth from June 1 to December 15, 2020, were significantly higher than in the corresponding months in 2019. Youth with no history of outpatient mental health or suicide visits and those with comorbid psychiatric conditions documented at the ED visit also had a higher risk of presenting with suicide-related problems from September to December 2020 compared with the same period in 2019.“As suicide-related encounters have made up more ED volume during the pandemic, increasing ED-based interventions, staff trained in addressing emergency mental health needs, and aftercare resources may also be valuable in addressing the needs of this population,” wrote Kathryn K. Ridout, M.D., P h.D., of The Kaiser Permanente Medical Group and colleagues.Ridout and colleagues analyzed electronic health record data for patients aged 5 to 17 years seeking emergency care for suicidal thoughts or behaviors at Kaiser Permanente Northern California from January 1, 2020, to December 15, 2020, and for the same dates in 2019. The researchers focused on four time frames: pre –COVID-19 pandemic period (January 1 to March 9), the period during which shelter-in-place orders were in effect in the Bay Area and California (March 10 to May 31)...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: COVID-19 JAMA Psychiatry pandemic shelter-in-place orders suicidal behaviors suicidal thoughts youth Source Type: research