SURVIVAL ANALYSIS OF SUICIDE RISK AFTER ATTEMPTED-SUICIDE

Survival analysis of suicide risk by sex and age after attempted suici de was studied in a cohort of 1573 suicide attempters referred to the psychiatric emergency room at the Karolinska Hospital from 1981 to 198 8. The time course of suicide risk and the overall prognosis after att empted suicide and, in particular, the possible usefulness of sex and age as risk factors for the pr;ediction of suicide risk after attempte d suicide was analyzed. Nearly two thirds of the sample were women and most of the suicide attempters were young (in their twenties and thir ties), and the median age was 35 years. The overall mortality after a 5-year mean observation period after attempted suicide was 11%, and th e suicide mortality was 6%. The suicide risk after attempted suicide a mong men (8.3%) was nearly twice the female suicide risk (4.3%). Age a s a possible suicide risk factor was analyzed for each sex separately by median split subgrouping. It was concluded that both older and youn ger male suicide attempters are at high risk of suicide (7% and 10% re spectively), and older women are at higher risk than younger (6% vs 2% ). The suicide risk is particularly high during the first year after t he suicide attempt. The high suicide risk group of young adult male su icide attempters is one of the main feasible targets of psychiatric in tervention research programs on suicidal behavior. Suicide among young men is a major cause of years of life lost.