Emergency Department Encounters Among Youth With Suicidal Thoughts or Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Population-level reports of suicide-related emergency department (ED) encounters among youth during the COVID-19 pandemic are lacking, along with youth characteristics and preexisting psychiatric service use.

Objective

To characterize population-level and relative change in suicide-related ED encounters among youth during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with 2019.

Design, setting, and participants

This cross-sectional study evaluated ED encounters in 2019 and 2020 at Kaiser Permanente Northern California-a large, integrated, community-based health system. Youth aged 5 to 17 years who presented to the ED with suicidal thoughts or behaviors were included.

Exposure

The COVID-19 pandemic.

Main outcomes and measures

Population-level incidence rate r

SUBMITTER: Ridout KK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8411357 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature