One out of 14 people in their teens and 20s who visited an emergency room after attempting suicide or self-harm returned to the hospital for a repeat attempt within two months.
On the 25th, a joint research team that included Kim Tae-han, a professor in the emergency medicine department at Seoul Boramae Hospital, announced these results after analyzing 1,445 adolescents and young adults age 24 or younger who visited emergency rooms in Seoul from 2015 to 2022.
During this period, a total of 4,452 patients visited emergency rooms for suicide attempts or self-harm, and one in three was 24 or younger. Among them, 75.4% were women.
In particular, 102 people revisited the emergency room within 60 days due to suicide attempts or self-harm. This corresponds to about 7.1% of the total.
The risk of revisiting the emergency room for suicide attempts and self-harm was 1.93 times higher for women than for men, and 1.57 times higher for those living alone. For those with a history of psychiatric treatment, the short-term revisit risk rose by 2.41 times.
The short-term emergency room revisit rate was at a record high among those age 24 or younger. By other age groups, it declined to ▲ ages 25–40, 5.8% ▲ ages 41–60, 4.8% ▲ age 61 or older, 2.3%.
The research team said, "Adolescents and young adults, especially women and those who are socially isolated, are at high risk of repeating suicide attempts and self-harm," and noted, "Appropriate interventions tailored to age characteristics are necessary."