FREQUENCY OF SUICIDE ATTEMPTS BY INGESTION OF DRUGS SEEN AT A TERTIARY CARE PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL IN MEXICO
Main Article Content
Keywords
Suicide attempt, intentional intoxication, children, adolescence, drug ingestion, suicidal behavior
Abstract
Suicide is a complex behavior with biological, psychological and social causes. It has predisposing family factors such as domestic violence, psychiatric disorders and parents’ alcohol abuse. Suicides have increased in children and adolescents in the last decade and it is now the third leading cause of death. Mexico has the second highest mortality rate in adolescents between 10-14 years old, of which 21.9 % are suicides. This study aimed to determine the frequency of suicide attempts using drugs in children and adolescents in a tertiary care hospital and to identify the causes. A retrospective and descriptive study was performed considering socioeconomic, cultural and biological issues related to suicide attempts using drugs in children and adolescents who were treated at the National Institute of Pediatrics from January 1995 to March 2005. A total of 141 drug intoxication cases were detected including 47 suicide attempts; 25 girls and 22 boys, with a median of 13 years of age. The most frequently used drug classes were analgesics 21 of 47 cases and antidepressants 11 of 47 cases. Risk factors were parents’ divorce and family dysfunction in 16 of 47 cases of the population. Suicidal behavior in children and adolescents can be attention seeking, as well as an alarm signal asking for help. Analgesics and antidepressants are the most commonly used drugs in suicide attempts.
References
2. Qin P, Mortensen PB. The impact of parental status on the risk of completed suicide. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003; 60: 797-802.
3. Borges G, Rosovsky H, Gómez C, Gutiérrez R. Epidemiology of suicide in Mexico from 1970 to 1984. Salud Publica Mex 1996; 38: 197-206.
4. Sauceda JM, Montoya MA, Higuera FH, Maldonado JM, Anaya A, Escalante P. Intento de suicidio en la niñez y la adolescencia: ¿síntoma de depresión o de impulsividad agresiva? Bol Med Hosp Infant Mex 1997; 54: 169–75.
5. Preventive Suicide. Mental and Behaviour Disorders, Department of Mental Health World Health Organization. Geneva, 2000. Available from: http://www.who.int/mental_health/media/en/62. pdf. Accessed November 2008.
6. Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía e Informática. Mortalidad en adolescentes entre 10-14 años. México, D.F, INEGI, 2003.
7. Behrman RE, Kliegman RM, Jenson HB. Nelson Tratado de Pediatría. 17th ed. Mexico: Elsevier 2004; 2618 p.
8. Boletín de Estadísticas Continuas (BEC), Estadísticas de Intentos de Suicidio y Suicidios. Demográficas y Sociales, Edición 2004.
9. Joiner TE, Brown JS, Wingate LR. The psychology and neurobiology of suicidal behavior. Annu Rev Psychol. 2005; 56: 287- 314.
10. Koplin B, Agathen J. Suicidality in children and adolescents. Curr Opin Pediatr 2002; 14: 713-7.
11. Shafii M, Shafii SL. School violence, depression, and suicide. J Appl Psychoanal Studies 2003; 5: 155-69.
12. Pelkonen M, Marttunen M. Child and adolescent suicide: epidemiology, risk factors, and approaches to prevention. Pediatric Drug 2003; 5: 243-65.
13. Sethi S, Bhargava SC. Child and adolescent survivors of suicide crisis. J Crisis Intervention Suicide 2003; 24: 4-6.
14. Clasificación Estadística Internacional de Enfermedades y Problemas Relacionadas con la Salud, Décima Revisión. Organización Panamericana de la Salud/ Organización Mundial de la Salud. 1995.
15. Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-168-SSA1- 1998, Del Expediente Clínico, septiembre de 1999. Diario Oficial de la Federación.
16. Moizeszowicz, J. Psicofarmacología IV. Estrategias terapéuticas y psiconeurobiológicas. 3rd ed. Buenos Aires: Editorial Paidós, 1998. 1248 p.