The COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact on the mental health of adolescents, leading to suicidal behaviors. However, it remains to be clarified whether the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the psychiatric profile of adolescent suicide attempters. Methods: a retrospective observational analytical study was conducted to assess age, gender and clinical characteristics of adolescents attempting suicide during the year before and the year after the global lockdown. Results: ninety adolescents (12–17 y.o.) were recruited consecutively from February 2019 to March 2021 at the emergency ward for having attempted suicide. Fifty-two (57.8%) attended before the lockdown (pre-pandemic group) and thirty-eight (42.2%) the year after (pandemic group). There were significant differences in diagnostic categories between the periods (p = 0.003). Adjustment and conduct disorders were more frequent in the pre-pandemic group, while anxiety and depressive disorders were more prevalent during the pandemic. Although the severity of suicide attempts did not show significant differences between the two study periods (0.7), the generalized linear model showed that the suicide attempt severity was significantly associated with current diagnosis (p = 0.01). Conclusions: the psychiatric profile of adolescents attempting suicide was different before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, the proportion of adolescents with a prior psychiatric history was lower, and most of them were diagnosed with depressive and anxiety disorders. These diagnoses were also associated with a greater severity in the intentionality of suicide attempt, regardless of the study period.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused remarkable psychological overwhelming and an increase in stressors that may trigger suicidal behaviors. However, its impact on the rate of suicidal behaviors has been poorly reported. We conducted a population-based retrospective analysis of all suicidal behaviors attended in healthcare centers of Catalonia (northeast Spain; 7.5 million inhabitants) between January 2017 and June 2022 (secondary use of data routinely reported to central suicide and diagnosis registries). We retrieved data from this period, including an assessment of suicide risk and individuals’ socioeconomic as well as clinical characteristics. Data were summarized yearly and for the periods before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain in March 2020. The analysis included 26,458 episodes of suicidal behavior (21,920 individuals); of these, 16,414 (62.0%) were suicide attempts. The monthly moving average ranged between 300 and 400 episodes until July 2020, and progressively increased to over 600 episodes monthly. In the postpandemic period, suicidal ideation increased at the expense of suicidal attempts. Cases showed a lower suicide risk; the percentage of females and younger individuals increased, whereas the prevalence of classical risk factors, such as living alone, lacking a family network, and a history of psychiatric diagnosis, decreased. In summary, suicidal behaviors have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, with more episodes of suicidal ideation without attempts in addition to younger and lower risk profiles.
To characterize people who died by suicide after having previous contacts with public health system using the data available in a primary care setting.A retrospective, population-based case-control...
TriNetX is a global health research network that connects healthcare organizations and pharmaceutical companies to facilitate clinical research using real-world data (RWD). We present the TauliMar Network that was created under TriNetX as a unique collaboration in Europe between Hospital del Mar and Hospital Parc Taulí in Spain. The network’s first ongoing studies explore the link between COVID-19, type 2 diabetes, and depression through inflammatory pathways, and the potential repurposing of antilipemic drugs such as statins for treating depression. The collaboration increases patient sample size and diversity, and enhances statistical power, all while ensuring data privacy and regulatory compliance.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a remarkable psychological overwhelming and an increase of stressors that may trigger suicidal behaviors. However, its impact on the rate of suicidal behaviors has been poorly reported. We conducted a population-based retrospective analysis of all suicidal behaviors attended in healthcare centers of Catalonia (North-East Spain; 7.5-million inhabitants) between January 2017 and June 2022. We retrieved data from the episode, including an assessment of suicide risk and the individual’s socioeconomic and clinical characteristics. Data were summarized yearly and for the periods before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain in March 2020. The analysis included 26,458 episodes of suicidal behavior (21,920 individuals); of them, 16,414 (62.0%) were suicide attempts. The monthly moving average ranged between 300 and 400 episodes until July 2020, and progressively increased to over 600 episodes monthly. In the post-pandemic period, suicidal ideation increased at the expense of suicidal attempts. Cases showed a lower suicide risk; the percentage of females and younger individuals increased, whereas the prevalence of classical risk factors, such as living alone or lacking a family network and a history of psychiatric diagnosis, decreased. In summary, suicidal behaviors have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, with more episodes of suicidal ideations without attempt and younger and lower risk profiles.