Exploring adolescent suicide attempts before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze suicide attempts in adolescents treated in the emergency department before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Methods: This cross-sectional, documentary, and retrospective study assessed the medical records of adolescents treated for suicide attempts in two emergency rooms linked to a teaching hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. Data were collected from the pre-pandemic period (between January 1, 2015, and March 10, 2020) and the pandemic period (between March 11, 2020, and May 5, 2023), characterizing the adolescents, risk factors for suicide attempts during the pandemic, and treatment. Data were subjected to descriptive and inferential analyses, including association tests and trend analysis, with a p-value of <0.05 considered statistically significant. The national ethical guidelines were followed.

Results: Data on 140 suicide attempts were collected, of which 54 occurred during the pandemic. The trend in these cases remained stable (p>0.05). We observed an association between adolescents who had completed high school and cases during the pandemic, with a previous mental disorder diagnosis and pre-pandemic cases, and a higher number of suicide attempt notifications to the Brazilian epidemiological surveillance system during the pandemic period (p<0.05). Feelings of loneliness were the most prevalent risk factor during the pandemic.

Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic did not show an influence on the number of suicide attempt cases in adolescents. However, it was observed that the cases during this period were not related to previous mental disorder diagnoses, as seen in the pre-pandemic period, which may suggest that other risk factors were associated with suicide attempt cases during the pandemic.