Abstract
Background: Adolescent suicide has become increasingly more prevalent recent years, with self-poisoning being a frequent means of suicide attempts. Objective: To investigate the factors associated with adolescent self-poisoning. Methods: Data on adolescents referred for intentional self-poisoning to the Adolescent Medical Unit during the years 1990-1998 were evaluated retrospectively. Data were obtained from the hospital medical records and included the following factors: socio-demographic data, educational status, agent and route of intake, motivation for overdose, and the extent of serious suicidal intent. Results: We evaluated 324 cases of adolescent self-poisoners aged 12-18 years (mean ± SD 14.8 ± 1.5 years). The female/male ratio was 8:1. Most of the patients were attending school and lived in urban areas. Oral ingestion was the only route of intake; 84.5% of the patients ingested drugs and 10.5% non-medicinal compounds. The drug most commonly taken was acetaminophen. The non-medicinal compounds were mostly pesticides and household materials. The suicide attempts were most frequently associated with transient depression, stemming from defects in child-family communication. As based on clinical psychiatric evaluation, patients who had ingested polydrugs and non-medical compounds evidenced a significantly greater suicidal intent (Χ2 = 11.9, P < 0.001) compared to those who took only one or two kinds of drugs. Conclusions: We found that self-poisoning attempts occur most frequently in depressed females at junior high and high school, usually in the context of family dysfunction. Non-medicinal agents and polydrug ingestion are major risk factors for evaluating the seriousness of the suicidal intent.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 252-254 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Israel Medical Association Journal |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 4 |
State | Published - 24 Jun 2002 |
Keywords
- Adolescents
- Intoxication
- Poisoning
- Risk factors
- Suicide attempts
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Medicine