Suicidal attempts and self-poisoning: 1-year retrospective cohort study from the quaternary hospital in Thai metropolitan area.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

In Thailand, suicide is the leading cause of death among middle-aged adults. We believe suicide characteristics depend on different cultural/socioeconomic status. This study aimed to describe the characteristics and associated factors of suicidal attempts by self-poisoning in Bangkok, the metropolitan city of Thailand.

METHODS

Records of all patients visiting the emergency department of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand, with self-poisoning suicidal attempts throughout 2021 were collected and analyzed.

RESULTS

Self-poisoning accounted for 110 attempts (by 74 patients). Females aged 11-30 were the most prevalent group. Pharmaceutical agents were commonly used. Most patients (86.4%) had underlying psychiatric illness(es), mostly major depressive disorder. Female, history of psychiatric illness and follow-ups, personality comorbid, and previous attempts reached statistical significance by univariate regression for factors associated with reattempting suicide, but only personality comorbid was significant from multivariable study ( = 0.02). Reattempting mostly recurred within 8 days after the prior attempt.

CONCLUSION

Majority of self-poisoned patients in Bangkok were young adults taking medications, which differs from the overall Thai population where most instances involve patients of older patients (30-50 years) and ingestion of agricultural substances. Appropriate strategies are needed for specific psychosocial/socioeconomic contexts and within the critical period after previous nonfatal attempts.