Factors affecting the decision to hospitalise children admitted to the emergency department due to non-fatal suicide attempts by pills

Objective: suicide attempts (sas) in the paediatric age group represent an important cause of morbidity and mortality. our aim was to examine the factors affecting the decision to hospitalize children with a diagnosis of non-fatal sa by pills. methods: children <18 years of age admitted with sa by pills during 2014 were evaluated retrospectively. patients were divided into two groups: group-i comprised hospitalised patients and group-ii included those who were discharged from the ped. these two groups were compared in terms of clinical and demographic characteristics recorded upon ped admission. results: a total of 196 patients were included in the study. the number of pills taken for self-poisoning in group-i (median: 20 pills) was higher than that in group-ii (median: 12 pills) (p < 0.001),and the rate of pathological findings during the first paediatric psychiatric consultation was higher in group-i (91.1%) than in the group-ii (54.8%) (p < 0.001). conclusion: factors affecting the disposition decision in cases of children who performed non-fatal sa via pills included the amount of medication taken for the suicide attempt and the presence of psychiatric disorders,as determined by a paediatric psychiatrist during the acute phase. © 2016,professional medical publications. all rights reserved.