Most Suicidal Teens Seen in ER Receive Follow-up Care

A recent survey at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, concluded the majority of suicidal adolescents who seek care in a hospital emergency room (ER) go on to receive follow-up care by a mental health professional in the next 30 days.

The authors found that nearly a third of the teens continued to have suicidal thoughts and behavior after their initial ER visit. Teens who had been diagnosed with a mental health condition prior to their ER visit were more likely to have visited a mental health professional for follow-up, they added.

Nearly 20 percent of the teens ended up returning to an ER for mental health problems, and most were admitted to the facility’s inpatient psychiatric ward.

Study author is scheduled present his team’s findings Friday in San Francisco at the Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition.