Risk Factors and Clinical Correlates of Pediatric Serotonin Syndrome in Hospitalized Suicide Attempters

Objective To evaluate the risk factors and clinical correlates of pediatric serotonin syndrome (SS) given that research on SS in adults exists, there is a dearth of literature on pediatric SS. Study design We conducted a retrospective chart review of 183 pediatric patients who were medically hospitalized after a suicide attempt. We investigated associations between SS and several of its risk factors and clinical correlates. We also assessed the sensitivity/specificity of Hunter’s criteria and criterion symptoms in predicting SS. Results SS occurred in 21.7% of patients with a serotonergic overdose. Recent marijuana use and overdose on a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor were significantly associated with SS. Individuals with SS required a greater number of days to be medically stabilized and had a greater likelihood of being placed on a ventilator during treatment. Hunter’s criteria had 66.7% sensitivity and 92.3% specificity in diagnosing SS. Conclusions Our study reveals both novel risk factors associated with SS (eg, recent marijuana use) and clinical correlates for patients with pediatric SS. In children, Hunter’s criteria appeared to have good specificity but poor sensitivity in identifying SS. Our results set the stage for future work aimed at enhancing clinicians’ ability to more rapidly identify and treat pediatric SS.

• Publication year

  2023

• Venue

  The journal of pediatrics: X

• Publication date

  2023-03-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.ympdx.2023.100086PMID 37334280PMCID 10258115
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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