TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Adolescent deliberate self-poisoning in South-East Melbourne
JO  - Emergency medicine Australasia
A1  - Hiremath, Mandira
A1  - Craig, Simon
A1  - Graudins, Andis
SP  - 704
EP  - 710
VL  - 28
IS  - 6
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics of adolescents presenting with deliberate self-poisoning (DSP) to a large Australian healthcare network. <br><br>METHOD: This is a retrospective chart review of 12-17 year olds presenting to three Monash Health EDs with self-poisoning from January 2012 to December 2014. <br><br>RESULTS: There were 35 207 adolescent presentations in the study period. A total of 721 cases were for DSP (2%), and 501 (1.4%) presented with recreational or accidental self-poisoning. The most common DSP toxicants were paracetamol (28%), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (15%) and serotonin reuptake inhibitors (10%). Of the DSP presentations, 96% were impulsive events; 23% of patients (n = 129) presented on multiple occasions, and 67% of all DSP cases had a past psychiatric history, particularly depression (57%). Disposition for DSP patients included 60% discharged home, 6% short stay unit, 19% medical admission, 13% psychiatric admission and 2% intensive care unit admission. There were no mortalities. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Adolescent DSP presentations frequently involved impulsive ingestion of over-the-counter medications, suggesting less access to prescription medications. Additionally, pre-existing mental health history and re-presentation were common. Initiatives to prevent DSP might include an increased focus on the early identification and management of mental health problems in adolescents in the community.<br><br>© 2016 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1742-6731
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1742-6723.12681
ID  - ref1
ER  -