Objective:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the lifetime
suicide attempt rate, clinical characteristics and
cognitive function of
Chinese patients with chronic
schizophrenia who had
attempted suicide.
Methods:
We collected data from 908
schizophrenia inpatients about
suicide attempts through interviews with the
patients and their
families, as well as through
medical records. All
patients were assessed with the Positive and Negative
Syndrome Scale, the Rating Scale for Extrapyramidal Side Effects, the
Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale, and the Repeated Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status.
Results:
Of this sample, 97 (10.68%) had
attempted suicide.
Patients who had
attempted suicide were younger, had longer illness duration, and more severe general
psychopathology and
depressive symptoms than those
who had not.
Logistic regression analysis confirmed that
suicide attempts were correlated with age,
smoking, and
depression. No cognitive performance differences were observed between
patients who had and had not
attempted suicide.
Conclusions:
In
China,
patients with chronic
schizophrenia may have a higher
prevalence of lifetime
suicide attempts than the general
population. Some demographic and clinical variables were related to
suicide attempts in
patients with chronic
schizophrenia.