Sociodemographic and psychopathological risk factors for repetition of attempted suicide: a 5-year follow-up study

Abstract

The present study examines the association between repetition of suicide attempts and sociodemographic and psychopathological characteristics of patients during a 5-year follow-up period. Participants were 874 suicide attempters referred to the University Hospital of Ghent, among whom 361 (41.3%) patients were available for follow-up analysis. Within 5 years, 29.2% of those admitted for an index suicide attempt repeated non-fatal suicidal behavior. Repetition of suicidal behavior was associated with high scores on measures of psychopathology. In addition, the risk of repetition was increased if the patient was female, aged between 20 and 49, and had a lower education. Multivariate analysis showed significant results for age, the Buglass & Horton Risk of Repetition Scale and for anxiety. Repetition of suicidal behavior is associated with high anxiety, severe depression, more psychiatric symptoms and is increased in young patients.