Suicidal Attempt among Psychiatry Patients Presented to the Department of Emergency of a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: More than 700, 000 people die due to suicide every year. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29 year-olds. A total of 77% of global suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries. There is an increasing number of suicide all over the world. There is limited data regarding this issue. The available data are based on police reports or on specific populations. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of suicidal attempts among psychiatry patients presented to the Department of Emergency of a tertiary care centre. Methods: A Descriptive cross-sectional study was done in a tertiary care centre from January 2019 to July 2020 after taking Ethical approval from the same institute. Beck Suicide Intent Scale, MINI-7, IPDE and PLESS were used to assess suicidal intent, psychiatric comorbidities, personality disorder and life stress event scores respectively. Bronfenbrenner’s Social Ecological Model was used to access various stressors. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. Results: The Prevalence of suicidal attempts among psychiatry patients in the emergency department was 265 (24.50%), (21.66-26.74, 95% Confidence Interval). The majority were females 135 (51%). The majority attempted at home 238 (89.81%). Poisoning was the most common mode of attempting suicide. Conclusions: The Prevalence of suicidal attempts among psychiatry patients was higher than in the other studies done in similar settings.

Keywords

• comorbidity; cross-sectional studies; prevalence; psychosocial factors; suicide attempt.