The incidence of self-harm ingestions in adolescents and young adults at a tertiary care center

Abstract

BackgroundThere has been an increasing incidence of self-harm attempts in recent years in the United States. Particularly concerning, there has been a growing trend of self-harm in the adolescent and young adult population. In order to inform initiatives to address this trend, risk factors and substances used for self-harm need to be clarified. MethodsThis is a descriptive retrospective observational study on all cases of self-harm poisoning in patients between the ages of 12 and 25 years reported at the state's only tertiary care center from January 2019 through March 2022. ResultsThere was an increased incidence of 69% for self-harm poisonings for all ages and a 90% increase in ages 12–17 years between the years 2019 and 2021. Fifty percent of all cases occurred in patients aged 14–17 years, 69% were female, and 22% required an intensive care unit. The top three most common substances used are available without a prescription. DiscussionThere was a persistent increase in self-harm attempts via poisoning throughout the study period with a particularly vulnerable period in the adolescent age group.