Dataset Information

Adolescent Admissions to Emergency Departments for Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors.

ABSTRACT: The objective of the present study was to describe the incidence and the characteristics of Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors (SITBs), among adolescents aged 11-18 admitted, over a two year period, to all the Emergency Departments of a Region of North-eastern Italy through a comprehensive analysis of medical records. A two-step search was performed in the regional ED electronic database. First, we identified the cases that had been clearly diagnosed as SITBs by an Emergency Department physician. Secondly, suspect cases were detected through a keyword search of the database, and the medical records of these cases were hand screened to identify SITBs. The mean annual incidence rate of SITBs was 90 per 100,000 adolescents aged 11-18 years. Events were more frequent in females. Drug poisoning was the most frequently adopted method (54%). In 42% of cases a diagnosis of SITB was not explicitly reported by the physician. In 65% of cases adolescents were discharged within hours of admission. Only 9% of patients started a psychiatric assessment and treatment program during hospital stay. This research confirms the high incidence of SITBs among adolescents and highlights the difficulty in their proper diagnosis and management. Such difficulty is confirmed by the fact that only a few patients, even among those with a clear diagnosis, were sent for psychiatric assessment. Correct identification and management of SITB patients needs to be improved, since SITBs are an important public health problem in adolescence and one of the main risk factors for suicide.

SUBMITTER: Zanus C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5268645 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Adolescent Admissions to Emergency Departments for Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors.

Zanus Caterina C Battistutta Sara S Aliverti Renata R Montico Marcella M Cremaschi Silvana S Ronfani Luca L Monasta Lorenzo L Carrozzi Marco M

PloS one 20170126 1

The objective of the present study was to describe the incidence and the characteristics of Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors (SITBs), among adolescents aged 11-18 admitted, over a two year period, to all the Emergency Departments of a Region of North-eastern Italy through a comprehensive analysis of medical records. A two-step search was performed in the regional ED electronic database. First, we identified the cases that had been clearly diagnosed as SITBs by an Emergency Department physic ...[more]

PMID: 28125701

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Project description:ObjectiveVictimized adolescents have an increased risk of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. However, poor understanding of causal and non-causal mechanisms underlying this observed risk limits the development of interventions to prevent premature death in adolescents. This study tested whether pre-existing family-wide and individual vulnerabilities account for victimized adolescents' increased risk of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors.MethodParticipants were 2,232 British children followed from birth to 18 years of age as part of the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study. Adolescent victimization (maltreatment, neglect, sexual victimization, family violence, peer/sibling victimization, cyber victimization, and crime victimization) was assessed through interviews with participants and co-informant questionnaires at the 18-year assessment. Suicidal ideation, self-harm, and suicide attempt in adolescence were assessed through interviews with participants at 18 years.ResultsVictimized adolescents had an increased risk of suicidal ideation (odds ratio [OR] 2.40, 95% CI 2.11-2.74), self-harm (OR 2.38, 95% CI 2.10-2.69), and suicide attempt (OR 3.14, 95% CI 2.54-3.88). Co-twin control and propensity score matching analyses showed that these associations were largely accounted for by pre-existing familial and individual vulnerabilities, respectively. Over and above their prior vulnerabilities, victimized adolescents still showed a modest increase in risk for suicidal ideation (OR 1.45, 95%CI 1.10-1.91) and self-harm (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.18-1.91) but not for suicide attempt (OR 1.28, 95% CI 0.83-1.98).ConclusionRisk for self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in victimized adolescents is explained only in part by the experience of victimization. Pre-existing vulnerabilities account for a large proportion of the risk. Therefore, effective interventions to prevent premature death in victimized adolescents should not only target the experience of victimization but also address pre-existing vulnerabilities.

Dataset Information

Adolescent Admissions to Emergency Departments for Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors.

Publications

Adolescent Admissions to Emergency Departments for Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors.

Similar Datasets

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