WEDNESDAY, July 8, 2026 (NewsDay News) — From 2021 to 2025, the overall share of emergency department (ED) visits for suspected suicide attempts among all ED visits for any reason declined, with the largest declines among boys and girls, according to a June 2, 2026 study. Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report.
Bhavna Singichetti, Ph.D., of the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues examined data from the National Syndrome Surveillance Program overall and by gender and age group to determine changes in ED visits for suspected suicide attempts.
The researchers found that compared to other age groups, adolescents aged 12 to 17 had the highest number of ED visits for suspected suicide attempts and the highest proportion of these visits among all ED visits for any reason between 2021 and 2025, as did girls compared to boys. The overall visit rate in 2025 decreased by 7.0 percent compared to 2021, with the largest declines among 12- to 17-year-olds and girls (20.8 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively). Among adults in the age group 26 and older, the proportion of visits increased (range 1.4 to 15.2 percent).
“Following reports of an increase in the number of US ED visits and the proportion of visits for suspected suicide attempt in 2020 and 2021, this analysis of current data showed an overall decrease in the proportion of suspected suicide attempt visits to the ED between 2021 and 2025,” the authors wrote. “While these reductions are encouraging, adolescents, particularly girls, continue to be disproportionately represented among medical referrals for suspected suicide attempts.”
