G. Borges et H. Rosovsky, SUICIDE ATTEMPTS AND ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION IN AN EMERGENCY ROOM SAMPLE, Journal of studies on alcohol, 57(5), 1996, pp. 543-548
Objective: The aim of this study was to obtain an epidemiologic measur
e of association between suicide attempts and alcohol consumption in e
ight emergency room (ER) hospitals. Method: All patients were intervie
wed and breath tested for alcohol consumption. The data were analyzed
using the case-control methodology. Cases were patients (N = 40; 21 ma
le) admitted to ER because of a suicide attempt. The control group com
prised patients (N = 372) admitted to ER because of accidents that are
less frequently reported as alcohol related (i.e., workplace accident
s, animal bites, and recreational accidents, except drowning). Results
: The proportion of suicide attempts under the effects of alcohol was
significantly higher than that of the control group. The bivariate odd
s ratios (and 95% confidence intervals) for self-report of alcohol con
sumption in the 6 hours prior to the suicide attempt were: abstainers
(baseline); 0.001-100 g of alcohol = 2.01 (0.44,7.85); >100 g = 31.11
(10.13, 98.61). For habitual alcohol consumption: abstainers (baseline
); 0.001-100 g of alcohol = 0.67 (0.25, 1.77); >100 g = 1.10 (0.44, 2.
75). For Alco-Sensor: less than or equal to 9 mg of alcohol/100 ml of
blood (baseline); 10-99 mg/100 ml = 8.21 (2.81, 23.73); greater than o
r equal to 100 mg/100 ml = 2.97 (0.42,15.95). Multiple logistic models
did not change these findings. Conclusions: Alcohol consumption prior
to the suicide attempt is a more important risk factor than the habit
ual alcohol consumption pattern. New research should emphasize life ev
ents and psychiatric variables and find explanations for differences b
etween the self-reported and the Alco-Sensor estimates.