title: Preventing repetition of attempted suicide-III. The Amager Project, 5-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Amager Project was initiated as a quasi-experimental study in 2005, based on an active outreach suicide preventive intervention inspired by the Norwegian Baerum Model. A 1-year follow-up study was conducted as a randomized controlled trial showing that this kind of active outreach to suicide attempters had a significant preventive effect on the prevalence of suicide attempts and significantly reduced the number of patients repeating a suicide attempt.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this 5-year RCT follow-up the aim was to investigate the sustainability of the suicide preventive effect shown in a 1-year follow-up study.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and thirty-three suicide attempters were included at this 5-year follow-up RCT study at Copenhagen University Hospital, Amager, and randomized to a rapid outreach suicide preventive intervention (OPAC) or TAU.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Offering OPAC intervention to patients after a suicide attempt has a significant preventive effect on the total of suicide attempts and significantly reduces the number of patients repeating a suicide attempt. The suicide preventive effect lasts up to 265 weeks. After 3-4 years the effect on the number of patients repeating a suicide attempt is no longer sustainable, while the effect on the number of repetitive events remains significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study emphasizes the importance of a rapid and active outreach intervention and points out that the effect on the number of patients repeating a suicide attempt wears off and is no longer sustainable after 3-4 years, suggesting the need for a follow-up intervention.
authors.affiliation: a Centre of Suicide Prevention, Department of Psychiatry Amager , Copenhagen University Hospital , Copenhagen S , Denmark.
authors.forename: Titia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lahoz
authors.affiliation: a Centre of Suicide Prevention, Department of Psychiatry Amager , Copenhagen University Hospital , Copenhagen S , Denmark.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hvid
authors.affiliation: a Centre of Suicide Prevention, Department of Psychiatry Amager , Copenhagen University Hospital , Copenhagen S , Denmark.
authors.forename: August G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D012008:Recurrence; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Suicide; effectiveness research; follow-up; prevention; randomized controlled trial