Emergency department utilization among American Indian adolescents who made a suicide attempt: A screening opportunity.

Year: 2015 Source: Journal of Adolescent Health.(2014).54(3):357Ð359.doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.11.015 SIEC No: 20150251

Reservation-based American Indian adolescents are at significant risk for suicide. Preventive approaches have not focused on medical service utilization patterns on reservations, which are typically limited to one local emergency department (ED). Patterns of ED utilization before suicide attempts were evaluated to identify opportunities for screening and intervention. A total of 1,424 ED visits from 72 Apache adolescents were extracted (median lifetime visits, n = 18). In the year before the attempt, 82% (n = 59) of participants had had an ED visit for any reason and 26% (n = 19) for a psychiatric reason, including suicidal thoughts or self-harm.

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Ballard, E.Tingey, L.et al.