Comparison of patients with and without mental disorders treated for suicide attempts in the emergency departments of four general hospitals in Shenyang, China.

OBJECTIVE: Compare the sociodemographic and psychological characteristics of suicide attempters admitted to emergency departments of general hospitals in China that do and do not meet diagnostic criteria for mental disorders.

METHODS: The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, the Suicide Ideation Scale, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and a quality of life measure were administered to 239 consecutive suicide attempters who were treated in the emergency departments of four randomly selected general hospitals in Shenyang.

RESULTS: Among the enrolled subjects, 166 (69.5%) met diagnostic criteria for a current mental disorder. Among these 166 subjects, 62.7% had mood disorders, 14.5% had anxiety disorders, 10.8% had psychotic disorders and 3.6% had substance use disorders. The 73 suicide attempters without a mental disorder were younger, had higher levels of impulsiveness and were more likely to have ideas about being rescued. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified the following independent predictors of having a current psychiatric disorder in the suicide attempters: female gender (OR=3.67, 95% CI=1.23-10.91), more than 6 years of formal education (OR=1.19, 95% CI=1.04-1.36), a higher score on the suicide ideation scale (OR=1.01, 95% CI=1.00-1.03), a higher score on Hamilton depression rating scale (OR=1.26, 95% CI=1.16-1.37) and a lower score on the quality of life scale (OR=0.75, 95% CI=0.63-0.90).

CONCLUSION: The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in suicide attempters in emergency departments of urban China is lower than that reported in most western countries. Suicide attempters with and without mental illnesses are distinct on a number of important dimensions. Mental health assessment and appropriate discharge planning for patients treated in emergency departments for suicide attempts are crucial components of comprehensive suicide prevention efforts.