Psychiatric morbidity among patients admitted with suicide attempt at a teaching hospital in western Kenya

Abstract

Background: Suicide is a global health problem that has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to announce Mental Health Action to reduce  suicide rates. Suicide attempt is a major risk for subsequent suicide, hence a psychiatric emergency.

Objective: To determine the patterns of psychiatric morbidity, methods of suicide employed and predisposing factors for attempted suicide.

Materials  and methods: A cross-sectional study conducted between August 2019 and July 2021 among 154 adult patients admitted with a current history of attempted suicide. A validated Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview Version 7.0 was employed in screening for mental disorders. Categorical  data were reported descriptively as frequencies with corresponding proportions. Pearson chisquare and Fisher’s exact tests were performed using STATA  version 14.

Results: 109 (70.8%) participants were below 35 years of age while two thirds 107 (69.5%) were male. The most frequently adopted method  for attempting suicide was organophosphate ingestion among 110 (71.4%) participants, followed by prescription drug overdose in 14 (9.1%). Prevalent  mental disorders were Major depressive disorder (MDD) in 60 (39.0%), alcohol use disorder (AUD) among 50 (32.5%), psychotic and bipolar disorders in 27  (17.5%) and 26 (16.9%) participants respectively. Male participants had a four-fold significantly increased likelihood (AOR = 3.99; 95% CI: 1.59, 11.30;  p=0.005) of AUD compared to females.

Conclusion: The leading psychiatric morbidities were MDD and AUD. Organophosphate poison ingestion and  prescription drug overdose were the most employed patterns of attempted suicide. Young male adults (below 35 years) with AUD were vulnerable to  attempting suicide.