[Severe suicides: short- and long-term outcome. Assessment of their quality of life]

From January 1977 to December 1982, 160 patients (10 to 55 years old) were admitted in a traumatic Intensive Care Unit after serious attempted suicides. Hospital mortality rate was about 34%. A questionnaire was sent to alive patients in 1983 (median delay between attempted suicide and questionnaire: 3.5 years); 68 were alive in 1983, 46 answered to questionnaire, 3 were died (two according to a new suicide); 32 could not be found; 85% of contacted patients answered (they were comparable in age, sex and means used in their suicide attempts, to the others). One patient about two must be rehospitalised one or more times. One patient about two must be always take drugs; 85% worked. Over 50% of the patients considered they had returned to their former way of life but 50% presented increased difficulty to work, and 25% said that they had no sequelae. Any of these 46 patients had made an other attempt suicide.