Hospitalization for attempted suicide in a children’s hospital

Abstract

The objective of the study is to describe characteristics of children and adolescents hospitalized with a diagnosis of attempted suicide. A descriptive cross-sectional observational study based on review of medical records to determine characteristics of the institutionalized population in the Hospital Materno Infantil (HIEMI) city of Mar del Plata, Argentine, in the period April 2014 to December 2015 who were admitted under the diagnosis of suicide attempt. Sex, age, methods of self-harm, UCI requirement, previous hospitalizations for retries, psychopathological history of treatment, sexual history and family history of first-degree abuse of psychiatric disorders is described. 64 children and adolescents were hospitalized for attempted suicide in the period. The 79.68% were female and over 13 years. 23.4% were treated retries. 12.5% used highly lethal methods such as firearms and hanging, 84.37% low lethality methods as sharp intake of psychotropic drugs and self-inflicted injuries and 6% required stay in ICU. 50% of the study population were under some kind of psychopathological treatment, 14% had a history of sexual abuse and 48.4% had a family history of psychiatric illness. Methods of low lethality as ingestion of psychotropic drugs and self-inflicted injuries cutting 
were more commonly used in women aged 13 to 14 years.