Comparison of the clinical features of suicide attempters by jumping from a height and those by self-stabbing in Japan

Abstract

Background: A history of psychiatric disorders is a high risk for suicide. The present study compared the clinical features of psychiatric patients in Japan who attempted suicide by jumping from a height and those who attempted suicide by self-stabbing. Methods:We compared two groups of suicide attempters who were hospitalized for both physical and psychiatric treatment (n=202). We compared the psychiatric diagnoses and clinical features between those who attempted suicide by jumping from a height (N=147) and those who did so by self-stabbing (N=55). Results:The self-stabbing group (mean age 52.3 years) was significantly older compared to the jumping group (mean age 37.9 years). A significantly higher proportion of females were found in the jumping group. Jumping from a height was significantly associated with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, whereas self-stabbing was significantly associated with mood disorders. Limitations:The results were drawn from data from a single hospital in a large urban city, and the study population did not include subjects who completed their suicide attempts. Conclusions:Our findings show that differences in suicide methods (here, between jumping from a height and self-stabbing) may be related to suicide attempters' psychiatric diagnosis, gender and age. It is thus important to obtain a more detailed background information about a patient's suicide attempt and to create suicide prevention plans in accord with individuals' psychiatric diagnosis, age and gender, especially among those who have attempted suicide by jumping from a height or self-stabbing.

Suicide attempts by jumping and length of stay in general hospital: A retrospective study of 225 patients

“…Regarding the characteristics of our population, the proportion of patients with psychotic disorders, mood disorders and other disorders (Supplemental Table ) were in line with the literature about suicide attempts by jumping from a height [10][11][12]20,46,47]. Regarding the patients with psychotic disorders (42% in our sample), psychotic symptoms, such as disorganization or cognitive impairment, can interfere with the preparations that other violent suicide means may require.…”

“…In Paris area, jumping from a height is particularly frequent, with 14% of suicides made by this method [2]. From a clinical point of view, violent suicide attempts have been found to be particularly associated with severe mental disorders [3,4],such as schizophrenia [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] sometimes even before the diagnosis [13], and to predict later completed suicide [14,15]. Taken together, these findings suggest that a particular attention should be paid after violent suicide attempts.…”

Possible factors influencing the duration of hospital stay in patients with psychiatric disorders attempting suicide by jumping

“…We previously demonstrated that jumping from a height was significantly associated with schizophrenia spectrum disorders among suicide attempters with psychiatric diagnoses, whereas self-stabbing was significantly associated with mood disorders [12]. Little is known regarding the differences in the diagnostic and clinical characteristics in suicide attempters by jumping.…”

Gender differences in socio-demographic, clinical characteristics and psychiatric diagnosis in/of suicide attempters in a Mexican population

“…Considering the gender paradox of suicidal behaviour where females report more suicide attempts and males more completed suicides, we suggest that this difference may be influenced by the lethality of the suicide method selected by each group (18). Some authors have even suggested that the choice of the suicide method and lethality is directly influenced by the demographic features of the individual, in particular by gender (12,16,17,20,46).…”