[Suicide in children and adolescents - a 13-year study with 78 cases].
OBJECTIVE
Updated and regional data about the circumstances of death and the psychosocial backgrounds of suicides can be helpful for improving suicide-preventive strategies in childhood and adolescence.


METHODS
All known cases of completed suicide in the period from 1996 to 2008 in persons ≤ 21 years of age from the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Frankfurt/Main were analysed in a retrospective study. We included 78 cases and matched them with a comparative sample of 1,797 adult suicides of persons > 21 years of age.


RESULTS
Within the chosen period there was a 44 % decrease in incidence of suicide in the group of ≤ 21-year-olds. The fraction of incarcerated persons in this group was 8.0 % compared to 2.56 % in the adult group. Differences from suicide in adulthood were also demonstrated in terms of suicide-related substance abuse (less detection of alcohol, more frequent detection of illicit drugs) and choice of methods (more deaths by being hit by a train).


CONCLUSIONS
Incarcerated adolescents are an important risk group for suicidal tendency and need increased, well-directed preventive measures. Clinical adolescent psychiatry should pay special attention to the indications in this study of an age-dependent association of drug use in suicide.
Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie des Kindes- und Jugendalters, Klinikum der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main. daniel.radeloff@kgu.de
Daniel
D
Radeloff
Thomas
T
Lempp
Marius
M
Albowitz
Silvia
S
Oddo
Stefan W
SW
Toennes
Peter H
PH
Schmidt
Christine M
CM
Freitag
Mattias
M
Kettner
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult; D000092864:Suicide Prevention
D013287:Illicit Drugs