Characteristics of hospitalized patients following suicide attempt in hamadan district, iran.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Limited research has been undertaken on suicide in developing countries. This paper aims to investigate characteristics of suicide attempts in Hamadan district of Iran. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted in all university hospitals in the Hamadan district of Iran and patients admitted for attempted suicides were included. All cases were assessed by psychiatrists and visited by two trained interns of Medicine. RESULTS: The incidence rate per 100,000 persons of attempted suicides was 228.6 for males and 263.1 for females; moreover, 344.9 for rural areas and 222.7 for urban areas. The suicide attempt was the highest in the 15 to 24 age category for both sexes and regions. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide is a complex, long-term outcome that requires multifaceted theoretical constructs for the appropriate study of its antecedents. Findings of this study along with other studies in Iran revealed that unemployed men, housewives, and rural women, high-school students, and those with a low level of education were at higher risk of suicidal behaviors.