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REPORT ON A THREE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF 100 CASES OF SUICIDAL ATTEMPTS IN SHIRAZ, IRAN H.
GHARAGOZLOU, M.D., D.PSYCH. HADJMOHAMMADI, M.D.
M.
cases of attempted sucide were evaluated psychiatrically three years ago. The present study is an attempt to follow up these cases after the lapse of three years. Objectives of the present study: 1. To determine the number of patients who attempted suicide subsequently, and of those who were successful in their second attempt. 2. To study the relationship of the psychiatric diagnosis at the time of the first attempt with further suicidal behaviour. 3. To evaluate the patients’ psychological adaptation. 4. To determine the effectiveness of psychiatric intervention in preventing further suicidal behaviour. The study was conducted in two stages. Stage 1 consisted of reviewing all the records of the 100 cases previously studied, to determine whether they were referred to a hospital for any reason, after their first attempt. In addition, the records of the Department of Forensic Medicine were reviewed for the year of the original study. No name included in the group under study was found in those records. The second stage comprised an effort to interview each patient and have him fill out a questionnaire. During the first stage, only 50 charts out of 100 were recovered. The other 50 charts proved to be unavailable, for a variety of reasons, one being that no records were kept of patients who were seen only in the emergency room. At the second stage, only 26 persons were located by the researchers. Of this group only 19 answered the questionaire personally. Information on the other seven patients was obtained from relatives and friends. The total number of patients under study was 99, as one patient had successfully committed suicide during the original study. Analyses of the 50 recovered records revealed that the 50 persons under study were fully representative of the original 100, from the point of view of age, sex, profession and socio-economic status. Subsequent suicide attempts were recorded for two of the 50 cases. One was a patient diagnosed as suffering from depressive illness. The other patient was a young foreign intern, diagnosed as a borderline case. He committed suicide upon his return to his own country. Three patients turned out to have received psychiatric care since their first attempt. Results of the personal interview by means of the questionnaire are summarised in Table 1. A particularly interesting finding of this study was the low number of subsequent suicides and suicide attempts, as compared with similar studies. Andreas et al. reported 246 cases of subsequent suicide out of 1345 cases during a four-year period. Throught study, the subsequent suicidal behaviour could not have been predicted on the basis of the psychiatric diagnosis at the time of the first attempt. In our earlier study we reported that 62 patients had received psychiatric care after their suicidal attempt. The low incidence of subsequent suicide and attempted suicide may be partly related to this factor. As suggested by other
n NE hundred
0
’
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workers, a suicidal attempt may be a way of seeking help bute to reintegration and a better psychological adaptation.
and may at times contri-
Summary One hundred cases of attempted suicide were followed up after three years. 50 records were recovered and of these 26 subjects were personally contacted. ¡ There had been only one subsequent suicide and three suicide attempts after three ~ years. The possible relationship between psychiatric intervention and the low incidence of subsequent suicide attempts was discussed. The psychological adaptation after a suicidal attempt was also discussed.
Only
TABLE 1
*Dr. Gharagozlou is associate professor and a chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Pahlavi University, School of Medicine, Shiraz Iran, and Dr. Hadjmohammadi is a third year resident at the same institution. This paper was presented at the 8th International Congress on Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention in Jerusalem, Israel, October 19-22, 1975.
Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 22, 2015
REPORT ON A THREE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF 100 CASES OF SUICIDAL ATTEMPTS IN SHIRAZ, IRAN H.
GHARAGOZLOU, M.D., D.PSYCH. HADJMOHAMMADI, M.D.
M.
cases of attempted sucide were evaluated psychiatrically three years ago. The present study is an attempt to follow up these cases after the lapse of three years. Objectives of the present study: 1. To determine the number of patients who attempted suicide subsequently, and of those who were successful in their second attempt. 2. To study the relationship of the psychiatric diagnosis at the time of the first attempt with further suicidal behaviour. 3. To evaluate the patients’ psychological adaptation. 4. To determine the effectiveness of psychiatric intervention in preventing further suicidal behaviour. The study was conducted in two stages. Stage 1 consisted of reviewing all the records of the 100 cases previously studied, to determine whether they were referred to a hospital for any reason, after their first attempt. In addition, the records of the Department of Forensic Medicine were reviewed for the year of the original study. No name included in the group under study was found in those records. The second stage comprised an effort to interview each patient and have him fill out a questionnaire. During the first stage, only 50 charts out of 100 were recovered. The other 50 charts proved to be unavailable, for a variety of reasons, one being that no records were kept of patients who were seen only in the emergency room. At the second stage, only 26 persons were located by the researchers. Of this group only 19 answered the questionaire personally. Information on the other seven patients was obtained from relatives and friends. The total number of patients under study was 99, as one patient had successfully committed suicide during the original study. Analyses of the 50 recovered records revealed that the 50 persons under study were fully representative of the original 100, from the point of view of age, sex, profession and socio-economic status. Subsequent suicide attempts were recorded for two of the 50 cases. One was a patient diagnosed as suffering from depressive illness. The other patient was a young foreign intern, diagnosed as a borderline case. He committed suicide upon his return to his own country. Three patients turned out to have received psychiatric care since their first attempt. Results of the personal interview by means of the questionnaire are summarised in Table 1. A particularly interesting finding of this study was the low number of subsequent suicides and suicide attempts, as compared with similar studies. Andreas et al. reported 246 cases of subsequent suicide out of 1345 cases during a four-year period. Throught study, the subsequent suicidal behaviour could not have been predicted on the basis of the psychiatric diagnosis at the time of the first attempt. In our earlier study we reported that 62 patients had received psychiatric care after their suicidal attempt. The low incidence of subsequent suicide and attempted suicide may be partly related to this factor. As suggested by other
n NE hundred
0
’
Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 22, 2015
210 l’
workers, a suicidal attempt may be a way of seeking help bute to reintegration and a better psychological adaptation.
and may at times contri-
Summary One hundred cases of attempted suicide were followed up after three years. 50 records were recovered and of these 26 subjects were personally contacted. ¡ There had been only one subsequent suicide and three suicide attempts after three ~ years. The possible relationship between psychiatric intervention and the low incidence of subsequent suicide attempts was discussed. The psychological adaptation after a suicidal attempt was also discussed.
Only
TABLE 1
*Dr. Gharagozlou is associate professor and a chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Pahlavi University, School of Medicine, Shiraz Iran, and Dr. Hadjmohammadi is a third year resident at the same institution. This paper was presented at the 8th International Congress on Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention in Jerusalem, Israel, October 19-22, 1975.
Downloaded from isp.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 22, 2015
