Evaluation of an Intensive Intervention Program in Suicidal Behaviour

Abstract

Introduction: Suicide is a public health problem. Consumed suicides reach 1 million cases per year worldwide and it is estimated that the number of suicide attempts is 10 to 20 times higher. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness in reducing repeat suicide attempts in a program for the prevention of suicidal behavior: Intensive Intervention Program (IIP).

Methods: We performed a study that compared a cohort of patients exposed to IIP intervention with another cohort of patients exposed to conventional therapy. The sample was made up of 191 patients, 89 in the treatment group and 102 patients in conventional treatment group, with a 12-month follow-up.

Results: Relapse occurred in 20.6% of patients receiving conventional treatment relapse compared with 10% in the treatment group (p=0.047). Patients treated in the program had a 2.88 times lower risk of relapse (p=0.015), this being independent of the number of previous attempts, age, gender, need for admission after the index attempt and aggregated diagnosis.

Conclusions: The results show that subjects who are treated in the IIP relapse less, need fewer admissions and the time elapsed between the treatment and the first repeat suicide attempt is greater.