Suicide attempts during heavy drinking episodes among individuals entering alcohol treatment in Warsaw, Poland.
OBJECTIVE
Acute alcohol intoxication itself may act as a trigger for suicidal thoughts and attempts among individuals at risk and may influence the potential lethality of the suicide attempt. This study in alcohol-dependent patients compared the correlates of suicide attempts during a heavy drinking episode with those of suicide attempts during relative sobriety.


METHODS
In two outpatient and two residential alcohol treatment programs in Warsaw, Poland, 113 patients who reported a suicide attempt during their lifetime were interviewed. The analyses focused on the patients' most serious suicide attempts and on whether these occurred during a heavy drinking episode.


RESULTS
Over two-thirds of the patients reported that their most serious suicide attempt occurred during a period of heavy drinking. A multivariable logistic model indicated that the following factors significantly distinguished those patients whose most serious suicide attempt occurred during a heavy drinking episode: male gender, younger current age, greater severity of alcohol dependence and the attempt being unplanned.


CONCLUSIONS
Among the patients in treatment for alcohol dependence who made a suicide attempt, the most serious attempt was likely to have been unplanned and committed by men when it occurred during a heavy drinking episode.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, 4250 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Anna
A
Klimkiewicz
Mark A
MA
Ilgen
Amy S B
AS
Bohnert
Andrzej
A
Jakubczyk
Marcin
M
Wojnar
Kirk J
KJ
Brower
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*