title: Suicide attempts in the county of Basel: results from the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behaviour.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This article presents epidemiological and clinical findings from the Basel research centre parti-cipating in the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behaviour.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between January 2003 and December 2006, 984 suicide attempts were documented for patients presenting at medical institutions with a suicide attempt.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean suicide attempt rate was 164/100,000 inhabitants. Women attempted suicide nearly twice as often as men. The highest suicide attempt rates were found for women aged 20-24 years, for men aged 30-34 years, and for people who were unmarried, of foreign nationality, and of low education or low employment status. 'Soft methods' were used significantly more often than 'hard methods'. Of the suicide attempt methods employed, a relatively high proportion was accounted for by self-poisoning with drugs (X60-64), especially with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, benzodiazepines and antidepressants. Significant gender differences were found in the various methods and in the frequency of psychiatric diagnoses. A total of 98.7% of the attempters were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder according to ICD-10; 35% suffered from an affective disorder. Men were significantly more frequently affected by substance abuse disorder or psychosis, whereas in women adjustment disorders and personality disorders were diagnosed significantly more often.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study offers the first published representative data of an entire Swiss county. Established sociodemographic and clinical risk factors for suicide attempts were reproduced. The identification of risk factors contributes to developing local targeted prevention strategies, for example education of risk groups and caregivers, and pharmacolegal consequences for package sizes. Gender- and age-specific prevention and aftercare programmes are indicated.
authors.affiliation: University of Basel Psychiatric Clinics, Center for Gender Research and Early Recognition, c/o UniversitÃ¤tsspital Basel, Switzerland. flavio.muheim@upkbs.ch
authors.forename: Muheim
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Flavio
authors.forename: Eichhorn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Berger
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pascal
authors.forename: Czernin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stephanie
authors.forename: Stoppe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gabriela
authors.forename: Keck
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Merle
authors.forename: Riecher-Rössler
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Anita
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology; D014478:Unemployment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014944:World Health Organization; D055815:Young Adult