Are Adolescent Suicide Attempters Noncompliant with Outpatient Care?

TLDR

The study aims to provide recommendations for triage and brief case management of adolescent suicide attempters. The authors compared outpatient attendance patterns of 115 adolescent suicide attempters with 110 nonattempters. Attempters scheduled the same number of appointments as nonattempters but kept fewer, dropped out at the same overall rate but faster, and remained in care more briefly; attendance was unrelated to age, referral reason, or prior attempts, though girls missed more and Hispanic patients kept a smaller percentage of scheduled appointments.

Abstract

The outpatient clinic attendance patterns of 115 consecutively referred 10- to 18-year-old suicide attempters and of 110 nonattempters were compared. The two groups did not differ in number of appointments scheduled or missed, but attempters kept significantly fewer appointments than did nonattempters. Seventy-seven percent of each group dropped out of treatment, but attempters dropped out significantly faster. Attendance and dropout were unrelated to age, reason for referral, or previous attempts. Girls missed more appointments than did boys, and Hispanic patients kept a smaller percentage of scheduled appointments than did other ethnic groups. We conclude that adolescent attempters are not more likely to drop out of treatment but keep fewer appointments and remain in care more briefly than do other outpatients. Recommendations for triage and brief case management are made.