PREDICTORS OF TRAUMATIC SUICIDE ATTEMPTS IN YOUTH PRESENTING TO HOSPITALS WITH LEVEL I TRAUMA CENTERS

Background: Limited research exists examining the predictors of suicide attempts by mechanism. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of traumatic suicide attempts in youth. Methods: Data came from patients 5-18 years of age presenting because of a suicide attempt at 2 hospitals in Central Texas with level I trauma centers. Univariate logistic regression examined the association between traumatic suicide attempts and variables describing the patient's demographic, mental health, and social information. We used the Mann-Whitney U test to examine the association between traumatic suicide attempts and the continuous variable of age. Results: Of 231 patients included in this study, most were female (75.8%), non-Hispanic white (48.1 %), and had a median age of 15.0 years (interquartile range 14-16). Compared with patients presenting because of an intentional overdose, patients presenting because of traumatic suicide attempts were associated with a reported criminal history (odds ratio [OR] 14.50 [95% confidence interval {CI} 3.84-54.82]), reported Child Protective Services history (OR 3.26 [95% CI 0.99-10.77]), being publicly insured or uninsured (OR 1.80 [95% CI 1.02-3.19]), male (OR 2.37 [95% CI 1.28-4.38]), and identifying as Hispanic (OR 2.01 [95% CI 1.10-3.68). Conclusions: Our findings inform targeted preventative resources and education efforts to populations of greatest need. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.