Suicide-related emergencies underdetected among minority, male youth, and preteens, study finds

Will Houston

UCLA Health

Originally poste 29 OCT 24

A new study by UCLA Health reveals that hospital emergency departments may be missing signs of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children, boys and Black and Hispanic youth. 

The research(Link is external) (Link opens in new window), published in the journal JAMA Open Network, analyzed electronic health records of nearly 3,000 children and teenagers presenting to two emergency departments in southern California for mental health reasons. Using machine learning algorithms, the researchers determined standard medical record surveillance methods miss youth with suicide-related emergencies. These methods disproportionately missed suicide-related visits among Black, Hispanic, male, and preteen youths, compared with other races and ethnicities, female youths, and adolescents. 

“Existing methods are missing kids, and not missing them at random,” said Dr. Juliet Edgcomb(Link opens in new window), study corresponding author, associate director of the UCLA Health Semel Institute for Mental Health Informatics and Data Science Hub(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) and assistant professor-in-residence in the UCLA Health Department of Psychiatry. “Without accurate and equitable detection of suicide-related emergencies, it is difficult for suicide prevention strategies to help the populations they aim to serve.” 

Here is the article.

Here is the research article.

Here are some thoughts:

A recent study by UCLA Health researchers found that emergency departments are not effectively identifying children and teenagers who are experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The study, which analyzed electronic health records of nearly 3,000 young patients, revealed that current methods for detecting suicidality are inadequate and disproportionately miss suicidal emergencies among minority youth, preteen youth, and boys. The study highlights the need for improved detection methods, particularly those incorporating artificial intelligence, to better address this growing mental health crisis and ensure that all youth at risk receive appropriate care.