Past-Year Emergency Department Utilization Patterns Among Suicide Decedents: Characterizing At-Risk Patient Populations

This study investigates the patterns of emergency department (ED) utilization among individuals who died by suicide, specifically examining the timing of their final nonfatal ED visits in relation to their death. The authors aim to characterize differences between frequent (≥4 visits) and infrequent (<4 visits) ED users among suicide decedents and compare these groups to other ED patients. Findings reveal that frequent users exhibit distinct demographic and visit characteristics and have a significantly higher risk of suicide shortly after their last ED visit compared to infrequent users.