Some risk factors of suicidal attempt in adolescents Guillermo Almenara Hospital I. 1996-2000

Abstract

The suicide attempt has increased in the last decades, at present it’s an important problem among the adolescent population and is the most frequent psychiatric urgency.

Objective: Determine some risk factors associated to the suicide attempt in adolescents.

Material and methods: In the Service of Psiquiatria Inafnto Juvenil of the Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara I.–EsSalud, during 4 years (April 1996 - May 2000). It was studied 92 hospitalized adolescents that tried suicide. The study is of prospective descriptive type and of cross section.

Results: The suicide attempt is more frequent in the female sex, in a relation of 6.5 to 1 with respect to the male sex. The 85% of attempters are among the 15 to 17 years of age. The 24% of them have had prior suicide attempt, specific suicidal thinking-out and planned and elaborate suicidal action. The method utilized as preferential form like way of suicide attempt was the drug intoxication (57%), being the benzodiazepines the most utilized (48%); then the poisonings with insecticides and rat poisons (39%). Near the 10% of the patients had suicidal thinking-out persistence and did not do judgment of the suicide attempt carried out. Among the triggering factors are found family problems (71%), school (10%) and sentimental (10%). The most frequent diagnoses according to the ICD-10 were depressive episodes (59%) and adaptation disorders (35%).

Conclusion: The female sex, the adolescence, the family conflicts, the number of prior intents, the specific suicidal thinking-out and planned, the elaborate suicidal action and the depressive illness, they are some of the factors of suicidal risk that contribute to delimit high-risk groups, with therapeutic and preventive ends.