Gender differences in death during hospitalization following a survived suicide attempt in Taiwan from 1998 to 2015: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: This study examines gender differences in death during hospitalization following a survived suicide attempt. The outcome of death during hospitalization following a survived suicide attempt and yearly rate of suicide attempts ending in hospitalization is examined. Methods: Data on 53,670 hospitalized patients injured by suicide attempt between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2015, were collected from the National Health Insurance Database. From 1998 to 2015, 24,052 male patients and 29,618 female patients were screened and matched by age, gender, and filing date. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyze the risk of death in terms of gender differences and suicide and hospitalization. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The risk of death during hospitalization after a survived suicide attempt of hospitalized male suicide patients was 1.694 times that of females (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.694, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.569–1.829). The risk of suicide and hospital death for male patients older than 65 years was 3.608 times that of male patients aged 10–24 years (AOR = 3.608, 95% CI = 2.914–4.468) and 6.648 times that of females (AOR = 6.648, 95% CI = 5.105–8.658). Every 1-point increase in the Charlson Comorbidity Index score of male suicide patients increased the risk of suicide hospital death by 5.6%, which indicates that the number or severity of the complications experienced by hospitalized male suicide patients was higher than that of women. Conclusions: Although men comprised a smaller proportion of hospitalized individuals following a survived suicide attempt, they also arrived in more critical condition and were more likely to die during their hospitalization. The increasing trend of female suicide attempt hospitalization rates is greater than that of males and yearly rate of suicide attempts ending in hospitalization is examined.