A 5‐year follow‐up study of suicide attempts

Abstract

Johnsson Fridell E, Öjehagen A, Träskman‐Bendz L. A 5‐year follow‐up study of suicide attempts. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1996: 93: 151–157. Q Munksgaard 1996. Seventy‐five patients were admitted to the ward of the Lund Suicide Research Center following a suicide attempt. After 5 years, the patients were followed up by a personal semistructured interview covering sociodemographic, psychosocial and psychiatric areas. Ten patients (13%) had committed suicide during the follow‐up period, the majority within 2 years. They tended to be older at the index attempt admission, and most of them had a mood disorder in comparison with the others. Two patients had died from somatic diseases. Forty‐two patients were interviewed, of whom 17 (40%) had reattempted during the follow‐up period, most of them within 3 years. Predictors for reattempt were young age, personality disorder, parents having received treatment for psychiatric disorder, and a poor social network. At the index attempt, none of the reattempters had diagnoses of adjustment disorders or anxiety disorders. At follow‐up, reattempters had more psychiatric symptoms (SCL‐90), and their overall functioning (GAF) was poor compared to those who did not reattempt. All of the reattempters had had long‐lasting treatment (> 3 years) as compared to 56% of the others. It is of great clinical importance to focus on treatment strategies for the vulnerable subgroup of self‐destructive reattempters.