Risk factors for attempted suicide: A prospective study on psychiatric consultations in the emergency room

Introduction Studies conducted on Italian samples suggested that 70% of self-harms referred to the emergency room (ER) were suicide attempts. Suicide attempts are associated with societal, relationship and individual risk factors, which vary with age and gender, occur in combination, and may change over time. We conducted a previous study on a sample of psychiatric consultations in ER from 2008 to 2011. We observed that female gender, a permanent job and being in the warmer months of the year were risk factors for suicide attempts. Aim To update knowledge about risk factors for attempted suicide analyzing a larger sample of ER psychiatric consultations. Methods Determinants of emergency room visits for psychiatric reasons were studied prospectively in a period of 8 years, from 2008 to 2015 at the “Maggiore della Carita” Hospital in Novara. The psychiatric assessment of patients was performed by experienced psychiatrists with a clinical interview. For each patient, a data sheet was filled in order to gather demographic and clinical features. Comparison of qualitative data was performed by means of the Chi 2 test while differences between groups for continuous variables were assessed through a t -test. Statistical significance was set at P  ≤ 0.05. A multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression in order to assess the potential predictors of attempted suicide. Results are expressed as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Conclusions We have collected data from more than 500 psychiatric consultations for attempted suicide. Data collection and statistical analyses are still ongoing. Implications will be discussed.