Characteristics of suicide attempters and nonattempters with schizophrenia in a rural community.
In this study, demographic and clinical characteristics of individuals with schizophrenia in a Chinese rural community who had attempted suicide at some time in their lives and those who had not made a suicide attempt were compared. Among individuals with schizophrenia, subjects with (n = 38) and without (n = 472) a lifetime history of suicide attempt were assessed with the Present State Examination. The results indicate that attempters had a significantly younger age, higher level of education, higher rate of lifetime depressed mood and hopelessness, and a larger number of positive symptoms than patients without suicide attempts. The logistic regression models also indicated that hopelessness, the number of positive symptoms and age were the most important predictors. Early interventions focusing on reducing hopelessness and controlling positive symptoms may help reduce the risk of suicide attempts among patients with schizophrenia.
College of Professional Studies, University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam 96923. ranmaosh@yahoo.com
Mao-Sheng
MS
Ran
Meng-Ze
MZ
Xiang
Wen-Jun
WJ
Mao
Zai-Jin
ZJ
Hou
Mu-Ni
MN
Tang
Eric Yu-Hai
EY
Chen
Cecilia Lai-wan
CL
Chan
Paul S F
PS
Yip
Yeates
Y
Conwell
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*