title: Predictors of attempted suicide among Swiss patients with alcohol-use disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Suicide attempts are common in patients being treated for alcohol-use disorders (AUDs). However, clinical assessment of suicide risk is difficult. In this Swiss multisite study, we propose a decision tree to facilitate identification of profiles of AUD patients at high risk for suicidal behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this retrospective study, we used a sample of 700 patients (243 female), attending 1 of 12 treatment programs for AUDs in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Sixty-nine patients who reported a suicide attempt in the 3 months before the index treatment were compared using risk factors with 631 patients without a suicide attempt. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to identify patients at risk of having had a suicide attempt in the previous 3 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Consistent with previous empirical findings in AUD patients, a prior history of attempted suicide and severe symptoms of depression and aggression considerably increased the risk of a suicide attempt and, in combination, raised the likelihood of a prior suicide attempt to 52%. In addition, one third of AUD patients who had a history of suicide attempts and previous inpatient psychiatric treatment, or who were male and had previous inpatient psychiatric treatment, also reported a suicide attempt.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The empirically supported decision tree helps to identify profiles of suicidal AUD patients in Switzerland and supplements clinicians' judgments in making triage decisions for suicide management.
authors.affiliation: University Hospital of Psychiatry Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buri
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: von Bonin
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Strik
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moggi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003663:Decision Trees; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology