ABSTRACT
The higher prevalence of suicidal attempts among women has been reported in a vast amount of scientific literatures; but contradictory findings have been reported about the different rates of such attempts in different menstural phases. Some studies have shown that suicidal attempts in women are more frequent in specific menstrual phases compared to other phases and to general population. Some other studies, however, have failed to duplicate such results. Regarding these controversies, this study was aimed to evaluate the existence of is any relationship between the suicidal attempts and different phases of menstrual cycle. This was a descriptive study carried out on 298 suicide-attempted females referred to Isfahan Noor and Ali Asghar poisoning emergency center in 2005. They were selected through convenient sampling and were administered questionnaires to assess the menstrual phase at the time of suicidal attempt. Data was analyzed by SPSS10 software using CHI2 test. Most of the suicide-attempted women were in the luteal phase. There was a significant difference between the frequency of this phase and the other phases at the time of attempt [p < 0.05]. Suicidal attempts in females may be more frequent during luteal phase. For preventing suicide, more supportive and evaluative methods should be considered during this high-risk phase