TITLE:
Evaluation of Predictors of Suicidal Re-Attempt in Pediatric Patients in the Emergency Department
AUTHORS:
Ali Kemal Erenler, Turker Yardan, Fuat Kulaksiz, Cem Koçak
KEYWORDS:
Suicide, Pediatric Patients, Emergency Department
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.7 No.4,
December
5,
2017
ABSTRACT: Background: Suicidal attempt in children is a serious public
health problem. A proper identification of features of suicide-related behavior
may help physicians to develop an accurate approach. The aim of this study was
to clarify the characteristics of children with poisoning due to suicidal
attempt and to determine the risk factors of suicidal re-attempt in the
Emergency Department (ED) via a simple questionnaire. Methods: We
collected medical data of patients under 18 years who were admitted to our ED
with intoxication due to suicidal attempt, retrospectively. General
characteristics of patients were evaluated. Patients were divided into 2 groups
as 1) High risk: patients with repetitive suicide attempt; 2) Low
risk: patients with first time suicidal attempt. Results: A total of 57
patients were included in this study. The mean age was 15.91 ± 0.97.
Majority of the patients were female (73.7%). Analgesics were the most frequent
abused drugs with a ratio of 51.1%. It is determined that the most important variables affecting the risk of suicidal
re-attempt are “idea about the suicide” and “purpose”. It was determined
that patients with an idea of repetitive suicide (I will try again) and whose
purpose was to die (I wish I have died) were in the most risky group with a
history of previous suicidal attempt. Conclusion: This study suggests that answers
of the pediatric patients to some question have a potential to predict
the high risk patients. The risk of suicidal re-attempt
may be predicted by the answers given to these questions: 1) What is
your idea about suicide? 2) What was your purpose?