BackgroundAttempted suicide is the main predictor of suicide constituting a major public health issue worldwide. It is estimated that for every completed suicide, 10 to 20 suicide attempts occur. Important part of the occurrences of suicide attempts in Brazil are registered in the hospital information system for coverage of more than 70 % allows to evaluate the extent of this problem in the country. The scope of this article is to analyse hospitalizations resulting from suicide attempts at public hospitals or services contracted out by the public health system (SUS) in Brazil from 1998 to 2014.MethodsThis is an ecological study of secondary morbidity data obtained from the Hospital Information System. The overall rate of suicide attempts per 100 000 (105) individuals and rates stratified by age group and sex were calculated. To measure trends, simple linear regression coefficients were calculated. The hospital mortality rate was calculated per 100 individuals.ResultsThe overall rate of hospitalization decreased from 1998 to 2014. The young and adult age groups had the highest hospitalization rates. Men were admitted more and the elderly had higher hospital mortality rates. The main cause of hospitalization was poisoning, accounting for 70.4 % of hospitalizations. Among the people who used poisoning by non-medical drugs as the method of attempted suicide, 58 178 (69.6 %) were men and 49 585 people who are poisoned by medical drugs (60.1 %) were women.ConclusionsAlthough hospitalization rates for attempted suicide have declined in Brazil, it remains a serious public health problem. Because a suicide attempt is the main predictor of suicide, studies to identify those most vulnerable to attempted suicide will help in the development of prevention strategies for mental health.

Our aim is to evaluate the relationship between religiosity and impulsivity in patients with mental illness who had attempted suicide and in healthy individuals. This is a cross-sectional study that included 61 healthy individuals and 93 patients. The instruments used were a sociodemographic data questionnaire, the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, and the Duke University Religion Index. The healthy individuals presented higher scores in the religiosity domains (organizational, p = 0.028; non-organizational, p = 0.000; intrinsic, p = 0.000). The patients presented higher scores in the impulsivity dimensions (attentional, p = 0.000; motor, p = 0.000; absence of planning, p = 0.000). In the patient group, intrinsic religiosity had a significant inverse relationship with total impulsivity (p = 0.023), attentional (p = 0.010), and absence of planning (p = 0.007), even after controlling for sociodemographic variables. Healthy individuals were more religious and less impulsive than patients. The relationship between religiosity, impulsiveness, and mental illness could be bidirectional; that is, just as mental illness might impair religious involvement, religiosity could diminish the expression of mental illness and impulsive behaviors.

Decreased trends were observed, but it is necessary to reinforce the actions to improve the capacity of health service assistance and coverage and data registration in order to maintain this trend.

Objective: To evaluate the association between personality disorders (PDs) and suicide attempts (SAs) in euthymic patients with type I bipolar disorder (BD). Methods: One-hundred twenty patients with type I BD, with and without history of SA, were evaluated during euthymia. The assessment included a clinical and sociodemographic questionnaire, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Young Mania Rating Scale, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, and Structured Clinical Interviews for DSM-IV Axis I and II Disorders. Logistic regression was employed to determine associations between history of SA and patient characteristics. Results: History of SA was significantly associated with comorbid axis I disorder, rapid cycling, high impulsivity (attentional, motor, non-planning, and total), having any PD, and cluster B and C PDs. Only cluster B PDs, high attentional impulsivity, and lack of paid occupation remained significant after multivariate analysis. Conclusions: Cluster B PDs were significantly associated with SA in patients with type I BD. High attentional impulsivity and lack of gainful employment were also associated with SA, which suggests that some cluster B clinical and social characteristics may exacerbate suicidal behavior in this population. This finding offers alternatives for new therapeutic interventions.