Alabdulla Majid, Iqbal Yousaf, Mohamed Hadeel Gafar Ali, Shinith Dhanya, Buenaventura Rodel Austria, Smith Katja Anneli Warwick, Hamideh Mohamed, Ouanes Sami
Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar; and College of Medicine, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
BJPsych Open. 2023 May 25;9(3):e97. doi: 10.1192/bjo.2023.70.
Suicide is a serious public health problem.
To investigate the sociodemographic and clinical features of callers (patients) classed by the Qatar National Mental Health Helpline (NMHH) as moderate to high priority based on the risk of self-harm or suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study design was a retrospective chart review of patients who contacted the helpline in the first 12 months, starting 1 April 2020. Data of those classed as moderate to high priority based on risk to self were collected using a specifically designed form. Absolute and relative frequencies for each of the studied categorical variables were determined.
Four hundred and ninety-eight patients were included. More than half were female. The mean age was 32 years (range 8-85 years). Two-thirds of patients were from Arab countries and more than half of all patients had contacted mental health services for the first time. The most common symptoms elicited included suicidal thoughts, depressed mood and disturbed sleep. The most common psychiatric disorders were depression and generalised anxiety disorder. Most patients were seen within 4 h and received psychiatric interventions. Virtually all patients received non-pharmacological interventions; only 38.5% received pharmacological interventions. The majority had follow-up appointments arranged with mental health services.
People from the Indian subcontinent and males proportionally approached services less, which may reflect stigma. The NMHH improved access to care for patients considered at risk to self and prevented hospital admissions. The NMHH offers a valuable additional choice to patients and assists in prevention and management of suicidal behaviour and other mental health difficulties.
自杀是一个严重的公共卫生问题。
调查卡塔尔国家心理健康求助热线（NMHH）根据新冠疫情期间自伤或自杀风险将来电者（患者）归类为中度至高度优先的社会人口学和临床特征。
本研究设计为对2020年4月1日起的前12个月内联系该求助热线的患者进行回顾性病历审查。使用专门设计的表格收集那些基于自我风险被归类为中度至高度优先的患者的数据。确定每个研究分类变量的绝对频率和相对频率。
纳入了498名患者。超过一半为女性。平均年龄为32岁（范围8 - 85岁）。三分之二的患者来自阿拉伯国家，超过一半的患者是首次联系心理健康服务。引发的最常见症状包括自杀念头、情绪低落和睡眠障碍。最常见的精神障碍是抑郁症和广泛性焦虑症。大多数患者在4小时内就诊并接受了精神科干预。几乎所有患者都接受了非药物干预；只有38.5%接受了药物干预。大多数患者都安排了心理健康服务的随访预约。
来自印度次大陆的人和男性相对较少寻求服务，这可能反映了耻辱感。NMHH改善了对被认为有自我风险的患者的护理可及性，并防止了住院治疗。NMHH为患者提供了一个有价值的额外选择，并有助于自杀行为及其他心理健康问题的预防和管理。
