ObjectivesTo describe the repetition of suicidal attempts and the awareness of suicidal behaviour among close people.MethodsFrom 668 attempted suicides presented to National Hospital of Sri Lanka (April to December 2002), 300 were randomly selected and interviewed.ResultsPrevious suicidal attempts were present in 29 (9.7%) among which six have attempted more than twice. Majority (25, 86.2%) were deliberate self-poisoning (DSP) while few were intentional self harm (4, 13.8%). Knowledge of family or close friend who committed suicide was reported by 96 (32%). There were 13 (4.4%) reported suicides in biological family while 46 (15.4%) were close friends and 42 (14%) were neighbours. Among the known persons of DSP, drugs were consumed by 30 (43.5%) and pesticides by 26 (37.7%). Among intentional self harm the commonest method used was fire (11, 45.8%) and hanging/strangulation (07, 29.2%). The time lapse between the index suicidal attempt in the subjects was within 1 year of the suicidal attempt of the family member or friend in 45 (41.3%) of those who reported knowledge of a family member or close friend who committed suicide.ConclusionThe number with past suicidal attempts in our study is 10% which is a contrast to 54% reporting a previous suicide attempt in the WHO/EU multi-centre study on parasuicide. A total of 33% reporting knowledge of a close friend relative or neighbour who attempted suicide may indicate a strong influence of models in suicidal behaviour.

Objective To determine effectiveness of an intervention and follow-up of patients admitted following attempted suicide. Methods 300 patients admitted following attempted suicide allocated to an intervention (a session of psycho-education) and follow up or treatment as usual group using random numbers. The inclusion criteria included age above 12 years, having telephone access, and agreeing to participate in the research. Those residing in the Colombo Municipal area who did not have telephone access were given an additional option of home visits by area family health worker (FHW). Follow up was by telephone interviews or FHW visits while non-intervention subjects were traced at 18 months. Results 668 persons were initially interviewed and 300 recruited. The intervention arm had 151 allocated of whom 96 (64%) received telephone follow up and 55 (36%) received FHW visits, while in the non-intervention group this was 115 (77.1%) and 34 (22.9%), respectively. At 18 months there were 32 (10.6%) drop outs, with 135 in the intervention group while 132 in the non-intervention group. In the non-intervention group 39 (29.5%) requested support, 35 (26.5%) sought support and there were three (2.3%) suicides, five (3.8%) re-attempted suicides while in the intervention group these were 81 (59.3%), 76 (56.3%), one (0.7%) and three (2.2%), respectively. Conclusion Intervention group requested more support and had a lower trend towards repeat suicides. Telephone and FHW follow-up is a feasible method to provide information and support.