Author/Authors :
Yalaki, Z Sağlık Bakanlığı - Ankara Eğitim ve Arastırma Hastanesi - Çocuk Sağlığı ve Hastalıkları, Turkey , Tasar, M A Sağlık Bakanlığı - Ankara Eğitim ve Arastırma Hastanesi - Çocuk Sağlığı ve Hastalıkları, Turkey , Yalçın, N Sağlık Bakanlığı - Ankara Eğitim ve Arastırma Hastanesi - Çocuk Sağlığı ve Hastalıkları, Turkey , Dallar, Y Sağlık Bakanlığı - Ankara Eğitim ve Arastırma Hastanesi - Çocuk Sağlığı ve Hastalıkları, Turkey
Abstract :
Aim: Suicide attempts are an important problem in Turkey as in other countries. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of adolescent children who attempt suicide.Material and Methods: In this study the patients who attempted suicide were evaluated retrospectively between January 2008 and January 2010.Results: We included 232 patients (82.6% female) with an average age of 14.9±1.1 years. Most of the patients were in the 14-16 years age group (73%) and 265 of them took toxic doses of medicines; 16 of them used sharp objects and took toxic doses of medicines to commit suicide. The types of medicines that patients took to commit suicide included non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs and paracetamol (45.4%), central nervous system (CNS) drugs (23.2%) and antibiotics (5.5%). Some of the patients (n=185) did not present with any symptoms, 41 had gastrointestinal symptoms and 39 of them presented with CNS symptoms. The reasons for suicide attempts included family related reasons in 180 cases and friendship related reasons in 85 cases. All of the patients were hospitalized and observed for at least 24 hours. There were no cases of mortality during or after the suicide attempt. Conclusion: Compared to previous years, we observed an increase in the number of suicide attempts among adolescent children. Prevention and management of suicide attempts should be concerned overall by a children-family-environment based approach.
