Psychological Risk Factors of Suicide Attempts in Patients Admitted to Emergency Departments

Suicide, as a leading cause of death, needs more attention to discover different aspects of its occurrence and to implement proper programs for prevention and control.
This study aimed to assess psychological risk factors of suicidal attempts in patients referred to the hospitals.
In this cross-sectional study, demographic characteristics, environmental stressors and three questionnaires [beck scale of suicide ideation (BSSI), quality of life (SF-12), and symptom checklist 90-R (SCL-90-R)], have been collected in all of the patients who were referred to emergency departments affiliated to Babol University of Medical Sciences, during 6 months.
One hundred and forty one patients had been included. Mean age of the patients was 26.7 ± 11.2 (range 11 - 75) years; 54.6% of the patients were in the age-group of 21 - 40 years; females had more suicide attempts and 58.1% of the patients had low education level. The most common method for suicide was drug ingestion (92.9% of the patients). A significant correlation had been observed between quality of life and suicidal ideation (r = - 0.48; P More frequent suicides in the second to fourth decades of life, especially in women and the persons who had lower quality of life suggests a need for proper social supports and psychiatric interventions for early detection of suicidal thoughts and necessary treatments for prevention of complete suicide.