An Analytical Cross-Sectional Study Among Adolescent Patients Who Attempted Suicide and Their Childhood Mobility.
Ya Yang, Meghana Balabhadruni, Stephanie Rojas Rodriguez and 5 others
PMID 40662479WHAT IT FOUND
In emergency department records, adolescents with a prior zip code change were more likely to be recorded as having attempted suicide than those with none.
Ask about recent moves during risk assessment.
Key findings
01Adolescents with at least one zip code change from 2006 to 2009 had higher odds of reporting a suicide attempt in 2010 than those with no history of zip code changes (OR = 1.71, 95% CI: [1.58, 1.85]).
02The analysis included 496,268 participants.
03After controlling for gender, females had 1.51 times higher odds of reporting a suicide attempt compared to males.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study only included adolescents who reached an emergency department for deliberate self-harm, so it may miss people who attempted suicide but did not get care. It analysed existing records and cannot show that moving caused a suicide attempt. It did not capture reasons for zip code changes, such as economic hardship, parental job changes, or family instability. It did not capture family instability or economic hardship, which may influence both moving and suicide risk. Race was partly grouped as Other, so detail for underrepresented groups was limited. Results are based on California emergency department records from a single year, so they may not apply elsewhere.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that changing zip code caused a suicide attempt. The study was cross-sectional, used emergency department records, and did not capture reasons for moves or other confounders.