Repeated suicide attempts: a follow-up study

There is a strong association between those who re-attempt a suicide attempt and those who complete it. Therefore, follow-up on the interventions carried out for suicidal patients is essential. This study investigated the sociodemographic and clinical profiles of individuals admitted as psychiatric emergencies after a suicide attempt according to sex, determined the prevalence of re-attempts in a period of six months, compared the profiles of patients who engaged in repeated suicide attempts to those who did not, and evaluated predictive variables for repeated suicide attempts.

A total of 207 patients (122 women and 85 men) who went to the psychiatric emergency room for a suicide attempt (January-October 2015) were interviewed, and their clinical histories were reviewed at 6 months.

Lethal suicidal behaviour was lower in women. Fourteen percent of the sample (n=29) repeated a suicide attempt in the following 6 months, and 2 people died by suicide; 3 died from other causes. The patients admitted to the Psychiatric Hospitalization Unit presented with more re-attempts (X2=4.1; d.f.=1; p=0.043). In the multivariate analysis, of all the variables analysed, the only one associated with repeated suicide attempts was having been in mental health treatment upon inclusion into the study (OR=3.504, p=0.009, CI95%: 1.361-9.018). In the follow-up period, the percentage of patients who engaged in mental health treatment increased 21.7%.

The risk of recurrence after being treated for a suicide attempt psychiatric emergency is high in the months following an attempt, and it is necessary to improve prevention and intervention programmes aimed at improving these figures.