Children's Suicide-Related Emergency Visits Rose 74% in the US, Study Finds

Emergency department visits by children experiencing suicide-related crises rose 74% in the United States between 2016 and 2022, according to a new study by researchers at Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. The study, published September 3 in Annals of Emergency Medicine, analyzed more than 5 million emergency department visits by children ages 5 to 17 for mental health concerns, using the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample database. All pediatric mental health-related emergency visits rose 24% over the same period, with suicide or self-injury and depressive disorders the most frequent diagnoses, accounting for 24% and 23% of visits respectively.

About half of suicide-related visits, and half of all children's mental health emergency visits, occurred at hospitals that see fewer than 10,000 pediatric patients a year. A child in a mental health crisis may arrive at any emergency department, and many are not prepared to care for children with acute mental health needs, the study authors said. At emergency departments with the lowest pediatric volume, close to 30% of children seen for mental health conditions were transferred to other hospitals for further care.

Corresponding author Dr. Audrey Brewer, an assistant professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and a pediatrician at Lurie Children's, said every emergency department — not only large pediatric centers — needs tools and resources to provide evidence-based mental health care. She said this means staff training, access to pediatric mental health professionals either onsite or via telehealth, universal suicide screening regardless of why a child came in, and a clear safety plan for families when concerns arise.

Senior author Dr. Jennifer Hoffmann, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Lurie Children's, said transfers to another hospital often mean a prolonged wait in the emergency department, sometimes lasting days, adding to the burden on children and families. She said toolkits such as the New England Regional Behavioral Health Toolkit and the National Pediatric Readiness Project already exist to help EDs care for children awaiting transfer.