title: Crisis intervention at the general hospital: an appropriate treatment choice for acutely suicidal borderline patients.
abstract: This study investigated whether crisis intervention (CI) at the General Hospital is a suitable management strategy among borderline patients referred to the emergency room (ER) for deliberate self-harm. Two patient cohorts (n=200) meeting DSM-IV Borderline Personality Disorder criteria, were prospectively assessed for repeated deliberate self-harm and service consumption. At ER discharge, 100 subjects received CI, while 100 comparison subjects (recruited before the implementation of CI) were assigned to treatment as usual (TAU). At 3-month follow-up, a high proportion of repeated deliberate self-harm and hospitalization in the global study sample was found. However rates were lower in the CI group: 8% repeated deliberate self-harm and 8% psychiatric hospitalization, versus 17% and 56% in the TAU group. The global expenditure for psychiatric hospitalization was 728,840 Swiss Francs (CHF) for CI and 914,340 for TAU. This study indicates that associated with mean hospitalization/relapse rates, CI may be a suitable management strategy for acutely suicidal borderline patients.
authors.affiliation: Service de psychiatrie de liaison et d'intervention de crise, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Annamaria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berrino
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ohlendorf
authors.forename: Stéphan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duriaux
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Burnand
authors.forename: Solenn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lorillard
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andreoli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D003419:Crisis Intervention / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006769:Hospitals, General / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D013557:Switzerland; D055815:Young Adult