Abstract
BackgroundAttempted suicide is the main predictor of suicide constituting a major public health issue worldwide. It is estimated that for every completed suicide, 10 to 20 suicide attempts occur. Important part of the occurrences of suicide attempts in Brazil are registered in the hospital information system for coverage of more than 70 % allows to evaluate the extent of this problem in the country. The scope of this article is to analyse hospitalizations resulting from suicide attempts at public hospitals or services contracted out by the public health system (SUS) in Brazil from 1998 to 2014.MethodsThis is an ecological study of secondary morbidity data obtained from the Hospital Information System. The overall rate of suicide attempts per 100 000 (105) individuals and rates stratified by age group and sex were calculated. To measure trends, simple linear regression coefficients were calculated. The hospital mortality rate was calculated per 100 individuals.ResultsThe overall rate of hospitalization decreased from 1998 to 2014. The young and adult age groups had the highest hospitalization rates. Men were admitted more and the elderly had higher hospital mortality rates. The main cause of hospitalization was poisoning, accounting for 70.4 % of hospitalizations. Among the people who used poisoning by non-medical drugs as the method of attempted suicide, 58 178 (69.6 %) were men and 49 585 people who are poisoned by medical drugs (60.1 %) were women.ConclusionsAlthough hospitalization rates for attempted suicide have declined in Brazil, it remains a serious public health problem. Because a suicide attempt is the main predictor of suicide, studies to identify those most vulnerable to attempted suicide will help in the development of prevention strategies for mental health.
Highlights
Attempted suicide is the main predictor of suicide constituting a major public health issue worldwide
Between 1998 and 2014, 153 061 hospitalizations for suicide attempts in people with 10 years or more of age were recorded in public hospitals and hospitals contracted by the Unified Health System (SUS), of which, 93 634 (61.2 %) hospitalizations were in male subjects, and 59 426 (38.8 %) hospitalizations were in female subjects, and sex was not reported in one case
This study reviewed all cases of suicide attempts resulting in hospitalization that were recorded in the hospital information system since 1998, the first year with available data
Summary
Attempted suicide is the main predictor of suicide constituting a major public health issue worldwide. Important part of the occurrences of suicide attempts in Brazil are registered in the hospital information system for coverage of more than 70 % allows to evaluate the extent of this problem in the country. In Brazil, according to the mortality information system, the rates of suicide are low (varying from 3.3/105 in 1980 to 5.3/105 in 2012, the last year with available data) compared with some European countries, such as Lithuania (30.72/105), Russia Federation (27.40/105), Belarus (25.26/ 105), Hungary (21.53/105), Ukraine (19.54/105), Finland (18.45/105), and Latvia (17.84/105) [2]. The rate of suicide attempts that end in hospitalization is unknown in Brazil, despite the existence of a system (Hospital Information System SIH) that records all hospital admissions due to suicide attempts in the public health system
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