Psychiatric disorders in cases of completed suicide in a hospital area in Spain between 2007 and 2010

• Published in: Revista de psiquiatria y salud mental Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 31
• Main Authors: Gómez-Durán, Esperanza L, Forti-Buratti, M Azul, Gutiérrez-López, Beatriz, Belmonte-Ibáñez, Anna, Martin-Fumadó, Carles
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Spanish
• Published: Spain 01-01-2016
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Female; Humans; Incidence; Male; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mental Disorders - psychology; Middle Aged; Mood Disorders - epidemiology; Mood Disorders - psychology; Psychotic Disorders - epidemiology; Psychotic Disorders - psychology; Retrospective Studies; Spain - epidemiology; Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology; Substance-Related Disorders - psychology; Suicide - psychology; Suicide - statistics & numerical data; Young Adult; Completed suicide; Diagnóstico psiquiátrico; Mental health disorder; Metodología suicida; Psychiatric diagnosis; Suicide method; Trastorno mental; Suicidio consumado
• ISSN: 1989-4600
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rpsm.2014.02.001

Suicide is an important Public Health problem. One of the most relevant known risk factors for suicide is suffering from a mental health disorder, identified in up to 90-95% of completed suicides, with this risk being increased if comorbidity is present. Findings from international research on the most common psychiatric disorders are dichotomous, divided into mood disorders and psychotic disorders. In Spain, data of this kind are scarce.
This study describes the psychiatric and forensic characteristics of completed suicide cases (n=79) ocurred in a psychiatric hospital healthcare area (in Spain), between 2007 and 2010. The forensic data were obtained from the Institute of Legal Medicine of Catalonia and the clinical data by reviewing the clinical records.
Most of the subjects in this sample were males (78.5%, 95% CI; 68.4%-87.3%). Almost half of the sample (45.4%, 95% CI; 33.8%-57.1%, 35/77) had records in the Mental Health Services Network (including substance misuse services). Two of the 79 were under 18, so we were not able to access the records. More than half (54.3%, 95% CI; 37.1%-71.4%) of those with psychiatric history suffered from a mood disorder; 37.1% (95% CI; 22.9%-51.4% from a depressive disorder; 14.3% (95% CI; 2.9%-25.7%) from a bipolar disorder, and 17.1% (95% CI; 5.7%-31.4%) suffered from a psychotic disorder. With regard to substance misuse, 42.9% (95% CI; 25.7%-60.0%) presented substance misuse, and 48.6% did not.
Psychiatric and forensic characteristics of completed suicide in this Spanish sample confirm previous findings from international studies: there is a high rate of psychiatric disorders in those who complete suicide, and there is a specific pattern as regards the method used to complete it.