Telephone Management Program for Patients Discharged From an Emergency Department After a Suicide Attempt: A 5-Year Follow-Up Study in a Spanish Population.
OBJECTIVE
In a previous controlled study, the authors reported on the significant beneficial effects of a telephone intervention program for prevention of suicide attempts by patients for up to 1 year. This study reports the 5-year follow-up data. Outcomes were number of recurrences and time to recurrence.


METHODS
The intervention was carried out on patients discharged from the emergency room (ER) following attempted suicide (Sabadell). It consisted of a systematic, 1-year telephone follow-up program: after 1 week, and thereafter at 1-, 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month intervals to assess the risk of suicide and encourage adherence to treatment. The population in the control group (Terrassa) received treatment as usual after discharge, without additional telephone contact.


RESULTS
The effect of reattempt prevention observed in the first year was not maintained over the long term.


CONCLUSIONS
A telephone management program for patients discharged from an ER after attempted suicide could be considered a useful strategy in delaying further suicide attempts and reducing the rate of reattempts in the first year. However, results showed that the beneficial effects were not maintained at the 5-year follow-up.
1 Department of Mental Health, Corporació Sanitaria Parc Taulí de Sabadell (Barcelona), Institut Universitari Parc Taulí-Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus d'Excellència Internacional, Spain.|2 Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.|3 Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Sabadell, Spain.
Ana Isabel
AI
Cebria
1 Department of Mental Health, Corporació Sanitaria Parc Taulí de Sabadell (Barcelona), Institut Universitari Parc Taulí-Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus d'Excellència Internacional, Spain.|4 Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Iris
I
Pérez-Bonaventura
5 Department of Clinical Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Pim
P
Cuijpers
5 Department of Clinical Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Ad
A
Kerkhof
1 Department of Mental Health, Corporació Sanitaria Parc Taulí de Sabadell (Barcelona), Institut Universitari Parc Taulí-Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus d'Excellència Internacional, Spain.|2 Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Isabel
I
Parra
1 Department of Mental Health, Corporació Sanitaria Parc Taulí de Sabadell (Barcelona), Institut Universitari Parc Taulí-Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus d'Excellència Internacional, Spain.
Anna
A
Escayola
1 Department of Mental Health, Corporació Sanitaria Parc Taulí de Sabadell (Barcelona), Institut Universitari Parc Taulí-Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus d'Excellència Internacional, Spain.|2 Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Gemma
G
García-Parés
6 Research Office, Corporació Sanitaria Parc Taulí de Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain.
Joan Carles
JC
Oliva
1 Department of Mental Health, Corporació Sanitaria Parc Taulí de Sabadell (Barcelona), Institut Universitari Parc Taulí-Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus d'Excellència Internacional, Spain.|4 Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Joaquim
J
Puntí
7 Department of Mental Health, Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain.
David
D
López
7 Department of Mental Health, Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain.
Vicenç
V
Valles
1 Department of Mental Health, Corporació Sanitaria Parc Taulí de Sabadell (Barcelona), Institut Universitari Parc Taulí-Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus d'Excellència Internacional, Spain.|2 Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Montserrat
M
Pamias
8 Department of Psychiatry, University of Leipzig, Germany.
Ulrich
U
Hegerl
2 Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.|3 Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Sabadell, Spain.|9 Department of Psychiatry, Parc de Salut Mar de Barcelona, Spain.
Victor
V
Pérez-Sola
1 Department of Mental Health, Corporació Sanitaria Parc Taulí de Sabadell (Barcelona), Institut Universitari Parc Taulí-Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus d'Excellència Internacional, Spain.|2 Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Diego J
DJ
Palao
D000328:Adult; D000359:Aftercare / Q000379:methods*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013030:Spain; D013406:Suicide, Attempted; D013689:Telephone; D000092864:Suicide Prevention
5-year follow-up; suicide attempt; telephone program