Clinical profiles of serious suicide attempters consecutively admitted to a university-based hospital: a cluster analysis study

Abstract

Clinical profiles of serious suicide attempters consecutively admitted to a university-based hospital: a cluster analysis study Perfis clínicos de indivíduos que fizeram tentativas graves de suicídio internados em um hospital universitário: análise de agrupamento A b s t r a c t Objective: To verify the presence of different groups of medically serious suicide attempters who had more clinical or surgical seriousness and required admission to a general hospital. Methods: 121 patients admitted consecutively were assessed. A questionnaire containing items on the patient characteristics and psychometric scales to assess the suicidal intent and lethality were used. A cluster analysis was performed using the K-means method. Results: Three groups were identified: 1) 43 subjects (mostly female) characterized by self-poisoning with medication and low suicidal intent, with highly impulsive suicide attempts; 2) 53 subjects (mostly males) who ingested pesticides and presented both moderate degrees of lethality and suicidal intent; 3) 17 subjects (predominantly males) who used more violent methods and presented high levels of lethality and suicidal intent. Conclusions: Grouped data of these inpatients could be misleading for follow-up research purposes as our findings indicate that there are relatively distinct clinical profiles among suicide attempters admitted to a general hospital.

Perfil das tentativas de suicídio por sobredose intencional de medicamentos atendidas por um Centro de Controle de Intoxicações do Paraná, Brasil

“…Além disso, como discutido em alguns trabalhos sobre o tema, homens que tentam suicídio por autointoxicação tendem a usar pesticidas ao invés de medicamentos 19 .…”

“…O propósito deste presente trabalho é contribuir para a análise das tentativas de suicídio por sobredose intencional de medicamentos, uma vez que esse é o método utilizado em mais da metade desses eventos 9,19 . Esses números são de grande valia para medidas de detecção, assistência e prevenção do comportamento suicida, uma vez que, aproximadamente, um quarto dos pacientes tenta o suicídio novamente no ano seguinte 20 , e 30% a 47% dos suicídios consumados apresentam histórico de tentativa prévia 21 Os registros analisados se encontravam armazenados em um banco de dados do programa Epi Info versão 6.04 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Estados Unidos).…”

“…O conteúdo desse protocolo foi elaborado com base na literatura sobre tentativas de suicí-dio por intoxicação voluntária 19,22 . Os dados foram armazenados, processados e analisados no programa Epi Info versão 3.4.3, no qual foram dispostas 12 variáveis referentes a gênero, idade, ocupação, medicamento utilizado, combinação com medicamentos e/ou outras substâncias químicas e hospitalização.…”

Do defense mechanisms vary according to the psychiatric disorder?

“…26 Therefore, greater knowledge of these particular patterns might lead to specific treatment interventions.…”

Detecção do risco de suicídio nos serviços de emergência psiquiátrica

“…Only one-fourth of patients who survived a suicide attempt admit their desire to die; the remaining say that they only wanted to sleep or escape from their problems. 15 Although this may not be consciously acknowledged, it can be inferred that suicidal behaviors are aimed, in many cases, at changing a situation of poor adaptation and suffering by influencing relevant people around. These situations constitute a cry for help that can be successful to the extent that it might create a movement of support and restructuring or, in the opposite direction, it may elicit even greater aggressiveness from close people or from a professional team poorly prepared to manage suicide attempts.…”