[Changes of violent suicide attempts during the first two years of COVID-19 pandemic in Dr. Manninger Jeno National Traumatology Center, Hungary.] / A violens öngyilkossági kísérletek számának változása a COVID­19-járvány elso két évében a Dr. Manninger Jeno Baleseti Központban.

INTRODUCTION: During the pandemic years in Hungary, the completed suicide rates have risen significantly. Violent suicide attempts represent the majority of completed suicides. OBJECTIVE: In our study, we analyzed the change of the number of inpatients treated in Dr. Manninger Jeno National Traumatology Center between 2016 and 2021 due to violent suicide attempts, focusing on the trend in the first two years of the pandemic outbreak. METHOD: We used an interrupted time-series analysis with Prais-Winsten regression, controlling autoagressive and seasonal effects, to estimate the effect of the pandemic on the violent suicide attempt rates in our sample. RESULTS: In the first two pandemic years, the number of inpatients treated in Dr. Manninger Jeno National Traumatology Center due to violent suicide attempts rose significantly, compared to the previous years. After the rapid rise observed in 2020, decreasing numbers were seen in 2021. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Analyzing the numbers of violent suicide attempts between 2016 and 2021, an increase in the number of attempts was observed during the first two pandemic years. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(26): 1003-1011.

Adherence to the iFightDepression® online self-help tool for depression - A pilot study.

Background and purpose:

The aim of the current observational study was to examine the level of adherence of Hungarian patients suffering from depression, using iFightDep­ression (iFD) guided online self-help tool with and without an extra weekly phone call support as well as identifying the predictors of adherence. Our hypotheses were: the additional weekly phone-calls would increase the adherence with the online self-help tool; furthermore, symptoms of depression will significantly decrease in the weekly phone support group.

During the 6 weeks of iFD® intervention, patients were divided into two groups: the first, alongside of the treatment as usual (TAU) and iFD®, received a 20-minu­tes weekly phone call support while the other group partook in only the TAU+iFD® intervention. Measures: number of completed modules and Patient Health Questionnaire-9. The study included 102 participants with diagnosis of depression (70% female, mean age: 36.9 [SD = 11.40] ys). 

Participants completed on average 4.8 (SD = 1.73) out of 6 modules. The intervention group with additional phone support completed more modules than the group of no additional phone calls (Z = –5.416, p < 0.001, rank Cohen’s d = –1.267). Participants with higher level of education completed more modules than those with lower level of education (Z = –2.198, p = 0.028, rank Cohen’s d = –0.444). Baseline depressive symptoms correlated negatively with the number of completed modules (rS = –0.22, p = 0.028). Depressive symptoms were significantly reduced between the two measurement points (main effect of time: (F(1) = 179.173, p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.642), the improvement was significantly larger in the iFD® + phone support group (time × group interaction: F(1) = 6.492, p = 0.012, partial η2 = 0.061).

Weekly phone support increased treatment adherence. Negative correlation of symptom severity with adherence suggests that iFD can be effective in mild or moderate forms of depression. With regards to sociodemographic variables, only the level of education showed significant correlation with adherence. Our results support applicability of the iFD intervention in various kinds of sociodemographic groups.