Profile of risk factors associated with suicide attempts: A study from Orissa, India

Abstract

Context:Periodic systematic profiling of suicidal risk factors in developing countries is an established need.Aims:It was intended to study the risk factors associated with suicide attempts in Orissa, one of the most economically compromised states of India.Settings and Design:Cross-sectional study in a general hospital.Materials and Methods:Consecutive 149 suicide attempters were evaluated for psychosocial, situational, and clinical risk factors using the Risk Rescue Rating scale, Suicide Prevention Center scale, Lethality of Suicide Rating scale, and Presumptive Stressful Life Event scale. They were compared with healthy and psychiatric controls who had never attempted suicide.Statistical analysis:Chi-square for comparison of categorical variables, t-tests for comparison of means.Results:The male-to-female ratio was closer to one in adults and around 1:3 in adolescents. Younger age, lower-middle economic group, rural background, unemployed, school educated were more represented in this study. Compared to the controls, significantly more number of attempters had a family history of psychiatric illness and suicide, childhood trauma, medical consultation within one month, had experienced stressful life events and had expressed suicidal ideas. In a considerable proportion of attempts, risk was high and rescuability least; 59.1% had more than 50% chance of death. Suicide potential was high in almost half the cases. More than 80% of all attempters had psychiatric disorder; however, only 31.5% had had treatment.Factors like middle age, family history of psychiatric disorders, past psychiatric history, current psychiatric illness, communication of suicidal ideas, the use of physical methods, and high potential attempts, differentiated repeaters significantly from the first-timers. Major physical illness, family and marital conflicts, financial problems, and failure in examinations were more frequent life events. Childhood trauma, noted in around 40% of the attempters, was considerably associated with adolescent suicide attempts.Conclusions:Modifiable risk factors identified in this study have preventive implications.

Revisiting profile of deliberate self-harm at a tertiary care hospital after an interval of 10 years

“…[1018] The gap between male and female suicide rates in India is relatively small. [19] There are reports of both male and female predominance in suicide attempts in hospital-based studies in India.…”

“…[10] The male-to-female ratio was closer to one in adults and around 1:3 in adolescents in a recent study. [18] In comparison to seven other world communities in the WHO SUPRE-MISS study that showed female preponderance, Chennai was the only site which showed a greater number of males (68%). [21]…”

Psychosocial Stressors among Suicide Attempters Attending JIPMER Hospital Puducherry

“…The results of a Belgium study [28] on life events of suicide attempters showed that 8 (42.1%) of them had relational problems, but the majority of them had academic failures since majority of the study subjects were adolescence. Another international study [29] also supported the present study results that 44 (72.1%) of the study subjects had family-related conflicts and 39 (63.9%) of them had marital conflicts.…”

“…Understanding these stressors largely contribute to the future prevention strategies. Studies assessing stress full life events and suicidal intent are done nationally and internationally [16][17][18][19]. These studies mainly try to focus on one aspect of the stressors.…”

Intentional and non-intentional burn related deaths: A comparative study of socio-demographic profile

“…A study on burns victims found that being in a joint family was a risk factor for dowry deaths [26]. Another study found that family and marital conflict was a major reason for intentional deaths [27]. It has been reported that rigidly defined roles and interpersonal stressors, which are found more frequently in a joint family, may lead to more psychiatric problems [10].…”