Study Shows Increase in Number of Suspected Suicide Attempts by Poisoning Among Children

Research found an increase in the number of suspected pediatric suicide attempts by poisoning between 2015 and 2020.

University of Virginia researchers discovered a 26% increase among 👧Children ages 6 through 19 during the reported time period.

The findings are reportedly based on a review of cases reported to the National Poison Data System as “suspected suicides.”

The number of total suspected suicides by poisoning rose from 75,248 in 2015 to 93,532 in 2020.

Girls made up 77.9% of pediatric self-poisoning cases during the time period.

👧Children ages 10 to 12 saw the largest increase in the rate of suspected suicides rising 109.3% between 2015 and 2020.

“The impetus for our research team to perform this study was that we began to notice an increase in younger aged 👧Children attempting suicide by acute overdoses in our clinical practice at UVA Health,” Christopher Holstege, medical director of the Blue Ridge Poison Center and chief of the Division of Medical Toxicology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, said.