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. 2023 Jan 25:11:1078274.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1078274. eCollection 2023.

Suicide attempts and eating disorders in adolescents, the mental health wave of the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic: A paediatric emergency department perspective

Giorgio Cozzi  1 , Alberto Grillone  2 , Elettra Zuliani  2 , Manuela Giangreco  1 , Chiara Zanchi  1 , Giuseppe Abbracciavento  1 , Egidio Barbi  1   2 , Alessandro Amaddeo  1
Affiliations

Suicide attempts and eating disorders in adolescents, the mental health wave of the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic: A paediatric emergency department perspective

Giorgio Cozzi et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Aim: We compared adolescents' visits to a tertiary-level paediatric emergency department (PED) in Italy during the pre-pandemic year and the first and second years of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on mental health presentations.

Methods: This was a retrospective study. We collected the number of visits, the demographical features, triage codes, discharge diagnoses, and outcomes of adolescents 13-17 years old who accessed the PED from 1 March 2019 to 28 February 2022.

Results: During the study period, 13,410 adolescents accessed the PED. The number of visits related to mental health problems was 304 (6.4%) in the second year of the pandemic and 306 (5.6%) in the pre-pandemic year, p = 0.07. In the same periods, females' prevalence was higher, 220 (72.4%) vs. 197 (64.4%), p = 0.03. The absolute number of subjects needing admission increased, 44 vs. 34, p = 0.21, and more urgent psychiatric consultations were needed, 161 vs. 114, p < 0.0001. The number of suicide attempts was 23 vs. 8, +188%, p = 0.01. The number of adolescents with eating disorders was 21 vs. 5, +320%, p = 0.001.

Conclusion: PED visits for suicide attempts and eating disorders in adolescents sharply increased in the second year of the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; adolescence; eating disorders; emergency department; mental health; suicide.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of urgent psychiatric consultations during the study period detailed for every mental health diagnosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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