[Selected sociological aspects in patients intentionally intoxicated with xenobiotics]

A lot of data in medical literature shows significant influence of social factors on the incidence of suicide attempts. The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of several sociological aspects in cases of patients after deliberate self poisoning with xenobiotics, who in the 2002-2005 period were treated in our Department. We analysed all self-poisoning cases of hospitalized patients. The study group consisted of 1416 patients: 836 (59.1%) female and 580 (40.9%) male. The average age of the subjects was 35.4 +/- 15.5 years. The sociological aspects included in the analysis were as follows: marital status, dwelling situation, financial situation and employment status or current level of education (in cases of patients still attending school). Among 1416 hospitalized subjects, 38.6% were married or cohabited; 35.7% described themselves as single and 12.2% were divorced or separated. Patients who in the moment of a suicide attempt were living with their families or friends represented the largest proportion of subjects (87.2%). Nearly a half of the patients (47.8%) stated that the financial means at their disposal hardly covered their most basic existential needs while more than 41% described their financial situation in the moment of a suicide attempt as poor. The largest group of the subjects consisted of professionally active people (27%), the second largest (25.6%) - of the unemployed. Almost 20% of patients willing to commit suicide were drawing a state pension due to their partial or complete incapacity to work. Just under 6% of patients in question were retired. The proportion of the unemployed or pensioners in the population aged 15-64 (n=1339) was as large as 47.9%. The dominant group in the population of patients still in their school years consisted of students of post-secondary schools.

More than a half of the patients treated due to a suicide poisoning attempt claimed to live a single life, without a long-lasting relationship. The percentage of the divorced or the separated in the analysed popu- lation was high. In the group of the deliberately self-poisoned patients in their productive age (15-64 years), the proportion of the unemployed or pensioners reached almost 48%. Over 90% of the subjects after a suicidal episode described their financial situation as bad or unsatisfying.