Suicide among Brazilian adolescents - a growing reality

In Brazil, suicide is an alarming and growing health problem among adolescents. The Sustainable Development Goals aims to promote mental health. Methods Descriptive epidemiological study regarding the proportion of deaths by suicide according to ICD-10 classification, gender, Brazilian region, place of occurrence, race and year in adolescents from 10 to 19 years old in the period of 2008 to 2017 in Brazil, through the national system of health data, DATASUS. Results From 2008 to 2017, there were 175,543 deaths in adolescents due to external causes in Brazil; voluntarily self-inflicted injuries were the second main cause with 8,028 (4.6%) deaths - Among them, 728 occurred in 2008, 672 in 2009, 706 in 2010, 733 in 2011, 792 in 2012, 786 in 2013, 814 in 2014, 854 in 2015, 897 in 2016, and 1047 in 2017. Cases of strangulation/hanging/suffocation were 5,429 (67.2%); self-poisoning by pesticides were 512 (6.5%); intentional self-harm caused by the firing of another firearm and an unspecified firearm were 456 (5.7%). The most affected gender was male, with 5,536 (69%) deaths; female was 2,492 (31%). Among regions, the Southeast Region had 2,238 (27.9%) death records, followed by the Northeast, with 2,128 (26.5%). The most reported place of occurrence was home, with 4,570 (56.9%) deaths, followed by hospital, with 1,627 (20.3%). Among races, brown people were 3,803 (47.4%) deaths, and whites were 3,023 (37.7%). Conclusions Suicide of adolescents is a growing tragedy, with an increase of 55% in the analyzed period. Expanding studies on the theme will favor better conduct and management by health professionals. The timely identification of adolescents with a suicidal tendency and its specialized follow-up may be tools to reduce this sad reality. Key messages The study of child and youth suicide is important to assess the aspects that promote it, propose effective interventions and evaluate, by monitoring, the problems caused at home. It elucidates a important topic to Brazilian public health: suicide among young people. Due to its prevalence, discussing it corroborates to develop new guidelines and conducts for managing patients.