TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2002//
TI  - Deliberate self-poisoning in adolescents
JO  - Israel medical association journal : IMAJ
A1  - Lifshitz, Mariel
A1  - Gavrilov, V
SP  - 252
EP  - 254
VL  - 4
IS  - 4
N2  - BACKGROUND: Adolescent suicide has become increasingly more prevalent in recent years, with self-poisoning being a frequent means of suicide attempt. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the factors associated with adolescent self-poisoning. METHODS: Data on adolescents referred for intentional self-poisoning to the Adolescent Medical Unit during the years 1990-1998 were evaluated retrospectively. Data were obtained from the hospital medical records and included the following factors: sociodemographic data, educational status, agent and route of intake, motivation for overdose, and the extent of serious suicidal intent. RESULTS: We evaluated 324 cases of adolescent self-poisoners aged 12-18 years (mean +/- SD 14.8 +/- 1.5 years). The female/male ratio was 8:1. Most of the patients were attending school and lived in urban areas. Oral ingestion was the only route of intake; 84.5% of the patients ingested drugs and 10.5% non-medicinal compounds. The drug most commonly taken was acetaminophen. The non-medicinal compounds were mostly pesticides and household materials. The suicide attempts were most frequently associated with transient depression, stemming from defects in child-family communication. As based on clinical psychiatric evaluation, patients who had ingested polydrugs and non-medical compounds evidenced a significantly greater suicidal intent (chi 2 = 11.9, P < 0.001) compared to those who took only one or two kinds of drugs. CONCLUSIONS: We found that self-poisoning attempts occur most frequently in depressed females at junior high and high school, usually in the context of family dysfunction. Non-medicinal agents and polydrug ingestion are major risk factors for evaluating the seriousness of the suicidal intent.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1565-1088
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -