Characteristics of Adolescent Patients Admitted to the Emergency Department due to Attempted Suicide by Poisoning; a Brief Report

INTRODUCTION: In the background of the increased suicide rate in the second decade of life, analysis of the characteristics of poisoning-related attempted suicide in adolescents and evaluation of the differences from adults may form an important basis for establishing measures to prevent deaths from poisoning. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the types of toxic substances ingested for attempted suicide by poisoning in adolescents admitted to the emergency department (ED). METHOD: This cross-sectional study retrospectively analyzed and investigated the medical records of patients aged 13 or older, admitted to the ED of a tertiary medical institute over a period of 3 years, for attempted suicide by poisoning. RESULTS: The psychiatric diagnoses among patients in the adolescent group included depression (75.8%), bipolar disorder (12.5%), and panic disorder (12.5%). In terms of the type of drug used for poisoning, antidepressants or anti-psychotics and sleeping pills were the most commonly used in the adolescent (43 subjects, 45.2%) and adult (286 subjects, 37.6%) groups, respectively. CONCLUSION: As there is a higher chance of poisoning by easily accessible drugs, the emergency physician needs to investigate any preceding diagnoses of psychiatric or medical illnesses in the adolescent patients attempting suicide with unknown drugs.