Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Clinical Insights

The Incidence of Hospital-Treated Attempted Suicide in Oviedo, Spain

Published Online:January 01, 2012https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000094

Abstract

Background: The incidence of hospital-treated attempted suicide has not been well established in Spain. Aims: To determine the incidence of suicide attempters presenting to a hospital in Oviedo, Spain, to describe the nature of the suicidal behavior, and to identify sociodemographic subgroups of the population with high rates. Methods: All admitted to the Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, during the period 1 May 2008 to 30 April 2009 were examined and those meeting the internationally-recognized case definition were identified. Results: A total of 308 suicide attempt presentations (39% male, 61% female) were made by 279 individuals. Almost 90% of the suicide attempts involved a drug overdose. The age-adjusted total, male, and female attempted suicide rates were 83, 66, and 99 per 100,000, respectively. The highest rate was among 35–44-year-olds for men and women (141.1 and 191.8 per 100,000, respectively). Incidence rates varied widely by sociodemographic characteristics with especially high rates among separated/divorced men (2.4%) and women (1.1%). Conclusions: The reported incidence of hospital-treated attempted suicide is below average in the European context but higher than that reported by previous Spanish studies. Persons separated or divorced constitute a high-risk group.

References

  • Baca-Garcia, E. , Parra, C. P. , Perez-Rodriguez, M. M. , Diaz Sastre, C. , Reyes Torres, R. , Saiz-Ruiz, J. , De Leon, J. (2007). Psychosocial stressors may be strongly associated with suicide attempts. Stress and Health, 23, 191–198. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bhui, K. , McKenzie, K. , Rasul, F. (2007). Rates, risk factors & methods of self-harm among minority ethnic groups in the UK: A systematic review. BMC Public Health, 7, 336. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • Bobes, J. , Saiz, P. (2004). Suicidal behavior in Asturias (Spain). In A. Schmidtke, U. Bille-Brahe, D. De, Leo, & A. Kerkhof, (Eds.), Suicidal behavior in Europe: Findings from the WHO/Euro Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behavior (pp. 254–261). Göttingen: Hogrefe & Huber. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Burger, I. , van Hemert, A. M. , Schudel, W. J. , Middelkoop, B. J. (2009). Suicidal behavior in four ethnic groups in the Hague, 2002–2004. Crisis, 30, 63–67. First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Cooper, J. , Husain, N. , Webb, R. , Waheed, W. , Kapur, N. , Guthrie, E. , Appleby, L. (2006). Self-harm in the UK: Differences between South Asians and Whites in rates, characteristics, provision of service and repetition. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 41, 782–788. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • Corcoran, P. , Arensman, E. , Perry, I. J. (2007). The area-level association between hospital-treated deliberate self-harm, deprivation and social fragmentation in Ireland. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 61, 1050–1055. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • Corcoran, P. , Keeley, H. S. , O’Sullivan, M. , & Perry, I. J. (2003). Parasuicide and suicide in the south-west of Ireland. Irish Journal of Medical Sciences, 172, 107–111. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • Corcoran, P. , Keeley, H. S. , O’Sullivan, M. , & Perry, I. J. (2004). The incidence and repetition of attempted suicide in Ireland. European Journal of Public Health, 14, 19–23. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • Corcoran, P. , Reulbach, U. , Keeley, H. S. , Perry, I. J. , Hawton, K. , Arensman, E. (2010). Use of analgesics in intentional drug overdose presentations to hospital before and after the withdrawal of distalgesic from the Irish market. BMC Clinical Psychopharmacology, 10, 6. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hawton, K. , Bergen, H. , Simkin, S. , Brock, A. , Griffiths, C. , Romeri, E. , ... Kapur, N. (2009). Impact of withdrawal of co-proxamol: Time series analysis of prescribing and drug poisoning deaths in England and Wales. British Medical Journal, 338, b2270. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hawton, K. , Fagg, J. , Simkin, S. , Mills, J. (1994). The epidemiology of attempted suicide in the Oxford area, England (1989–1992). Crisis, 15, 123–135. First citation in articleMedline, Google Scholar

  • Hawton, K. , Harriss, L. (2008a). The changing gender ratio in occurrence of deliberate self-harm across the lifecycle. Crisis, 29, 4–10. First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Hawton, K. , Harriss, L. (2008b). How often does deliberate self-harm occur relative to each suicide? A study of variations by gender and age. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 38, 650–660. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • Hawton, K. , Townsend, E. , Deeks, J. , Appleby, L. , Gunnell, D. , Bennewith, O. , Cooper, J. (2001). Effects of legislation restricting pack sizes of paracetamol and salicylate on self-poisoning in the United Kingdom: Before and after study. British Medical Journal, 322, 1203–1207. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • Instituto de Política Familiar (IPF) . (2007). A los dos años de la ley del divorcio express [Two years since the express divorce law]. Madrid: IPF. www.ipfe.org/2aniversarioleydivorcioexpress.pdf First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Jimenez Moron, D. (2003). Study of the suicide attempts treated in a health area in a 9-year period. Anales de Psiquiatria, 19, 431–439. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Jiménez Treviño, L. , Saiz Martínez, P. A. , Paredes Ojanguren, B. , Bobes García, J. (2004). Epidemiología de los comportamientos suicidas [Epidemiology of suicidal behavior]. In J. Bobes García, P. A. Saiz Martínez, M. P. García, P ortilla, M. T., Bascarán Fernández, & M. Bousoño, García (Eds.), Comportamientos suicidas: prevención y tratamiento (pp. 11–24). Barcelona: Psiquiatría Editores. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Michel, K. , Ballinari, P. , Bille-Brahe, U. , Bjerke, T. , Crepet, P. , De Leo, D. , ... Wasserman, D. (2000). Methods used for parasuicide: Results of the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Parasuicide. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 35, 156–163. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • O’Carroll, P. W. , Berman, A. L. , Maris, R. W. , Moscicki, E. K. , Tanney, B. L. , Silverman, M. M. (1996). Beyond the Tower of Babel: A nomenclature for suicidology. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 26, 237–252. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • O’Loughlin, S. , & Sherwood, J. (2005). A 20-year review of trends in deliberate self-harm in a British town, 1981–2000. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 40, 446–453. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • Petronis, K. R. , Samuels, J. F. , Moscicki, E. K. , Anthony, J. C. (1990). An epidemiologic investigation of potential risk factors for suicide attempts. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 25, 193–199. First citation in articleMedline, Google Scholar

  • Platt, S. , Bille-Brahe, U. , Kerkhof, A. , Schmidtke, A. , Bjerke, T. , Crepet, P. , ... Sampaio, J. (1992). Parasuicide in Europe: The WHO/EURO Multicenter Study on Parasuicide. I. Introduction and preliminary analysis for 1989. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 85, 97–104. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • Schmidtke, A. , Bille-Brahe, U. , De Leo, D. , Kerkhof, A. (2004). Suicidal behavior in Europe: Findings from the WHO/Euro Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behavior. Göttingen: Hogrefe & Huber. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Schmidtke, A. , Bille-Brahe, U. , DeLeo, D. , Kerkhof, A. , Bjerke, T. , Crepet, P. , ... Sampaio-Faria, J. G. (1996). Attempted suicide in Europe: Rates, trends and sociodemographic characteristics of suicide attempters during the period 1989–1992. Results of the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Parasuicide. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 93, 327–338. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • Schmidtke, A. , Weinacker, B. , Lohr, C. (2004). Sociodemographic characteristics of suicide attempters in Europe. In A. Schmidtke, U. Bille-Brahe, D. De, Leo, & A. Kerkhof, (Eds.), Suicidal behavior in Europe: Findings from the WHO/Euro Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behavior (pp. 28–41). Göttingen: Hogrefe & Huber. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Schmidtke, A. , Weinacker, B. , Lohr, C. , Bille-Bahr, U. , De Leo, D. , Kerkhof, A. , ... Rutz, W. (2004). Suicide and suicide attempts in Europe. In A. Schmidtke, U. Bille-Brahe, D. De, Leo, & A. Kerkhof, (Eds.), Suicidal behavior in Europe: Findings from the WHO/Euro Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behavior (pp. 15–27). Göttingen: Hogrefe & Huber. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Silverman, M. M. , Berman, A. L. , Sanddal, N. D. , O’Carroll, P. W. , & Joiner, T. E. (2007). Rebuilding the tower of Babel: A revised nomenclature for the study of suicide and suicidal behaviors. Part 2: Suicide-related ideations, communications, and behaviors. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 37, 264–277. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • Skegg, K. (2005). Self-harm. Lancet, 366, 1471–1483. First citation in articleCrossref Medline, Google Scholar

  • Van Heeringen, K. (1994). Epidemiological aspects of attempted suicide – A case-control study in Gent, Belgium. Crisis, 15, 116–122. First citation in articleMedline, Google Scholar

  • Waterhouse, J. , Muir, C. , Correa, P. , Powell, J. (1976). Cancer incidence in five continents. Lyon: IARC. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar