Risk groups for parasuicide – a survey of unselected people who attempt suicide treated in hospital

Abstract

Copyright 0 Munksgaard 1993 Pnnred m Denmark all nghts resewed I C A N D I N * " I I N , O " I N A L 0 8 SOCIAL WELFARE lSSN 0907 2055 Risk groups for parasuicide -a survey of unselected people who attempt suicide treated in hospital Adamsson C, Wasserman D, Eklund G. Risk groups for parasuicide -a survey of unselected people who attempt suicide treated in hospital. Scand J SOC Welfare 1993: 2 178-185. 0 1993 Munksgaard.A registration survey of parasuicide patients seeking hospital care in a defined catchment area was conducted over 24 months (1989)(1990). In 1989, 475 individuals registered as residents in the catchment area were given care on 541 occasions, and in 1990,382 individuals received care on 426 occasions as a result of parasuicide. The parasuicide rates for the overall population in the catchment area were estimated by means of demographic variables. Parasuicide rates were highest among women 25-39 years old and among men 30-39 years old, i.e., in older age groups than previous studies (from the 1970s) have shown. Parasuicide rates are 3 times as high for single men as for married men and twice as high for single women as for married women. Among single men and women, divord(e)s show the highest parasuicide rates, especially in the 15-34 age group. The number of parasuicides among women decreased significantly between 1989 and 1990, which had the effect of evening out the fema1e:male parasuicide ratio (1.28:l). Moreover, for the first time it becomes clear that the Finnish citizens in Sweden, both men and women, show a high risk for parasuicide compared with the Swedish population. These results focus attention on deficient psychic and social I wellbeing of Finns in Sweden.