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Emergency departments (EDs) in the U.S. saw a doubling of children and adolescents presenting with suicide attempts or ideation from 2007 to 2015. These investigators aimed to determine whether this trend was mirrored by a parallel increase in suicide deaths, as determined by the CDC's age- and sex-specific annual suicide rates for youth from 1999 to 2017.
From 1999 to 2007, suicide rates for 5- to 19-year-olds actually declined by an average of 2% annually. Starting in 2007, however, rates increased year over year through 2017 for both males (average annual increase, 3.5%) and females (8.5%). The increases since 2007 were mostly driven by increases in 12- to 15-year-olds, but significant increases occurred in older teens as well. From 2012 …