Gender Differences In Suicide Attempts: Preliminary Results Of The Multisite Intervention Study On Suicidal Behavior (supre-miss) From Campinas, Brazil.

Abstract

To identify sociodemographic, psychosocial and clinical differences between men and women who attempted suicide and were seen at a university general hospital. This is a non-controlled cross-sectional study, sub-project of the Multisite Intervention Study on Suicidal Behavior by the World Health Organization. A standardized interview that comprised psychometric scales was used. The comparison between genders was made by means of uni and multivariate logistic regression. 210 subjects (68.1% women) participated. Women had worse scores on the WHO Well-Being Index (p = 0.005), the Beck Depression Inventory (p = 0.01) and the Psychiatric Disability Assessment Schedule (p = 0.03). In the multivariate logistic regression, men presented more mental disorders due to alcohol and drug use (26.1% vs 7%, p = 0.02) and used alcohol at the suicide attempt more frequently (28.3% vs 16%, p = 0.03). Men reported that most of the time they had been feeling active and vigorous (50% vs 22%, p < 0.001). Women had had more physical and sexual abuse (27% vs 8.7%, p = 0.01). There are some distinctive characteristics between men and women who attempt suicide. Such differences may also be present in the general population and suggest there is a need for further studies, as well as the adoption of different strategies in suicide prevention for men and women.