Context: Suicide is a major public health problem and ranks second among the leading causes of death in both genders in 15-34 years. Suicidal attempts are 20 times higher than the completed suicides. Aims: The aim was to identify background risk factors and precipitating factors for suicide attempts in Pondicherry district and to fi nd out the reporting status of suicide attempts. Settings and Design: Hospital-based descriptive study. Subjects and Methods: 200 subjects who have attempted suicide from JIPMER and Indira Gandhi Government Hospital and Post Graduate Institute Pondicherry were interviewed. Monthly data on attempted suicide were collected from Crime Record Bureau of Pondicherry and Villupuram district and Medical Records Department of these two hospitals was collected. Statistical Analysis Used: SPSS version 16.0 was used. Chi-square test was used to test the signifi cance of the difference between two proportions. Results: Most common precipitating factor found among those who attempted suicide was verbal abuse, most often by parents (31.9%). The most common mode of suicide attempt was consumption of chemical poison in 56% of subjects followed by plant poison 41.5%. The suicide intention was high in 81.5% of subjects. No signifi cant difference in risk factors could be found between subjects from Pondicherry and villupuram district. It was found that there was gross under-reporting of attempted suicides to Crime Records Bureau. Conclusions: Measurement of suicide intention enables us to predict the future suicidal behavior in adults; individuals with a high suicide intent index pose a major public health problem. Hence, there is a need for opportunistic screening of those with suicidal ideations as well as counseling and follow-up of those with suicide attempts to prevent further attempts.

Background: Globally, acute diarrhoea claims around 1.5 million lives of under-five children. In India, ADD accounts for 8% of deaths in <5yrs age group. Child may be pushed into an irreversible outcome as stunting because of inadequate nutrition and repeated bouts of infection during the first 1000 days of life. Oral rehydration therapy is the most effective treatment intervention which can avert about 14% of deaths in under five children.Methods: A cross sectional study was done among 270 mothers of under five children from our urban health centre service area of PSGIMSR.Results: Among 270 mothers of under five children most of them belonged to the age group of ≤25 years. Only 10.7% of the mothers were aware that infection or germs cause diarrhea, signs of dehydration were not known by 80% of mothers. Mothers’ with more than one child and mothers with education more than 8th class were emerged as the factors affecting ORS preparation.Conclusions: The knowledge on diarrhoea was low. Although awareness regarding spread of diarrhoea and ORS was adequate in this community, knowledge regarding continuation of feeding and signs of dehydration were deficient. Thus educating the mothers of under-five children regarding correct practices of home management of diarrhoea is likely to further reduce diarrhoea morbidity and mortality.

Background: Every 40 seconds a person dies by suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people 15-29 years of age, globally. In India, there is an increasing trend of suicide from 10.4 per lakh in 2003 to 10.9 per lakh in 2009.Methods: A (QUAN – QUAL) sequential explanatory design was used. Among 200 patients admitted for attempted suicide in JIPMER and Indira Gandhi Government Hospital and Post Graduate Institute Pondicherry were assessed for the reasons for attempting suicide using a semi-structured questionnaire. For a subsample of 40 (20%) In-depth interview was done to explore and understand the reasons and the undermined situation associated with attempted suicide at their residence.Results: Among the study subjects (n=200), mean (±standard deviation) age of suicide attempt was 26±9.1 years. Commonest reason for attempting suicide was verbal abuse, most often by parents (31.9%). Other precipitating factors were physical abuse, illness, marital conflict, family related problem, etc. On IDI, it was found that there were several factors like, background factors, aggravating, and protective factor. A conceptual diagram was generated depicting the imbalance between the protective and aggravating factors acting on the background factors before the execution of a suicide attempt.Conclusions: There is lot of scope to reduce the suicidal attempts in our country. Opportunistic screening should be done to identify any psycho-social issues among patients attending OPD. Strong social support and enabling environment should be provided for counselling individuals with suicidal ideation and intentions.

Background: Suicide is a major public health problem and a leading cause of death worldwide. In 2009, the suicide rate in Tamil Nadu and in Pondicherry was 21.5 per lakh and 47.2 per lakh population respectively. This is more than four times the rate as compared to the national level. Suicidal attempts are 20 times higher than the completed suicides. Mixed-method design gives better understanding of the complexity of the path from suicide ideation to suicidal attempt.  Materials and methods: A (QUAN – QUAL) Sequential Explanatory design was used. Among 200 patients admitted for attempted suicide in JIPMER and Indira Gandhi Government Hospital and Post Graduate Institute Pondicherry were assessed for the reasons for attempting suicide using a semi-structured questionnaire. For a subsample of 40(20%) In-depth interview was done to explore and understand the reasons and the undermined situation associated with attempted suicide at their residence. Results: Among the study subjects (n = 200), more than half were in the age group of 20-29 years, mean (± standard deviation) age of suicide attempt was 26 ± 9.1 years. Commonest reason (precipitating factor) for attempting suicide was verbal abuse, most often by parents (31.9%). Other precipitating factors were physical abuse, illness, marital conflict, family related problem, etc. On IDI, it was found that there were several, background factors (like chronic ill health; loss of family member, delayed marriage, alcoholism, and heavy debt), aggravating factors (like verbal or physical abuse, neighborhood influence, guilt), and protective factor (like religious affiliation, motherhood feel, caring and loving parents). A conceptual diagram was generated depicting the imbalance between the protective and aggravating factors acting on the background factors before the execution of a suicide attempt. In the presence of background factor, the suicidal ideation progressed to suicidal intention and ended in attempt. Not all suicide attempts were preceded with suicidal intention or ideation. Some attempts occurred as an impulsive thought or to threaten the family member. Conclusion: There is lot of scope to reduce the suicidal attempts in our country. Opportunistic screening should be done to identify any psycho-social issues among patients attending OPD. Strong social support and enabling environment should be provided for counseling individuals with suicidal ideation and intentions.

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