Vulnerable individuals and changes in suicidal behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea.
BJPsych Open
; 8(5): e166, 2022 Sep 08.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2021389
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The COVID-19 pandemic poses a major threat to mental health and is associated with an increased risk of suicide. An understanding of suicidal behaviours during the pandemic is necessary for establishing policies to prevent suicides in such social conditions.AIMS:
We aimed to investigate vulnerable individuals and the characteristics of changes in suicidal behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic.METHOD:
We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with suicide attempts who visited the emergency department from February 2019 to January 2021. We analysed the demographic and clinical characteristics, risk factors and rescue factors of patients, and compared the findings between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods.RESULTS:
In total, 519 patients were included. During the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods, 303 and 270 patients visited the emergency department after a suicide attempt, respectively. The proportion of suicide attempts by women (60.1% v. 69.3%, P = 0.035) and patients with a previous psychiatric illness (63.4% v. 72.9%, P = 0.006) increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, patients' rescue scores during the pandemic were lower than those during the pre-pandemic period (12 (interquartile range 11-13) v. 13 (interquartile range 12-14), P < 0.001).CONCLUSIONS:
Women and people with previous psychiatric illnesses were more vulnerable to suicide attempts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Suicide prevention policies, such as continuous monitoring and staying in touch with vulnerable individuals, are necessary to cope with suicide risk.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Language:
English
Journal:
BJPsych Open
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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