Effectiveness of a communal, multilevel, interdisciplinary suicide prevention program.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Mental Health Research
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Completed suicide (CS) is a leading cause of death, with suicide attempts (SAs) contributing significantly to morbidity.
• Limited data exists on community-based, systemic approaches to suicide prevention.
• A communal suicide prevention program was implemented to assess its impact on CS and SA rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a community-based suicide prevention program (FraPPE) in reducing completed suicides and suicide attempts.
• To analyze demographic and diagnostic factors associated with suicide and suicide attempts within the study population.

Main Methods:

• The FraPPE program integrated multiple strategies: low-threshold outpatient services, postvention, a dedicated hotline, gatekeeper training, and public awareness campaigns.
• The intervention period lasted 25 months, with data collected during baseline and intervention phases.
• Statistical analysis compared CS and SA rates before and after the intervention.

Main Results:

• No significant reduction in completed suicides (7.7 vs. 9.0 per month) or suicide attempts (39.2 vs. 40.7 per month) was observed.
• Affective disorders were the most common diagnosis, followed by substance use disorders.
• Males had a significantly higher rate of completed suicides, while suicide attempts showed a balanced sex ratio.

Conclusions:

• The implemented community suicide prevention measures did not significantly decrease suicide and SA rates.
• Potential confounding factors include pre-existing regional prevention efforts, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increased reporting due to awareness campaigns.
• The study recommends establishing registries for suicidal behaviors to improve data quality and inform future prevention strategies.