Association between unintentional injuries and self-harm among adolescent emergency department patients.

Background: Unintentional injury, a leading cause of morbidity among adolescents, may also be a risk factor for deliberate self-harm. To inform clinical and public health prevention efforts in adolescent populations, we examined whether distinct subtypes of unintentional injury were differentially associated with deliberate self-harm.

Methods: Statewide, all-payer, individually linkable administrative data on adolescent patients presenting to any California emergency department (ED) in 2010 (n = 490,071) were used to investigate longitudinal associations between subtypes of unintentional injury and deliberate self-harm.

Emergency Department Use and Inpatient Admissions and Costs Among Adolescents With Deliberate Self-Harm: A Five-Year Follow-Up Study.

Objective: Self-harm rates among U.S. adolescents have risen substantially.