A 5-YEAR FOLLOW-UP-STUDY OF SUICIDE ATTEMPTS

Seventy-five patients were admitted to the ward of the Lund Suicide Re search Center following a suicide attempt. After 5 years, the patients were followed up by a personal semistructured interview covering soci odemographic, psychosocial and psychiatric areas. Ten patients (13%) h ad committed suicide during the follow-up period, the majority within 2 years. They tended to be older at the index attempt admission, and m ost of them had a mood disorder in comparison with the others. Two pat ients had died from somatic diseases; Forty-two patients were intervie wed, of whom 17 (40%) had reattempted during the follow-up period, mos t of them within 3 years. Predictors for reattempt were young age, per sonality disorder, parents having received treatment for psychiatric d isorder, and a poor social network. At the index attempt, none of the reattempters had diagnoses of adjustment disorders or anxiety disorder s. At follow-up, reattempters had more psychiatric symptoms (SCL-90), and their overall functioning (GAF) was poor compared to those who did not reattempt. All of the reattempters had had long-lasting treatment (> 3 years) as compared to 56% of the others. It is of great clinical importance to focus on treatment strategies for the vulnerable subgro up of self-destructive reattempters.