Identifying Suicide Risk Groups among Attempted Suicides

IN a previous study, support was found for two hypotheses on the relationship between attempted and completed suicide (1).The first was that persons who have previously attempted suicide are more likely to commit suicide than those who have not.The study found that, compared with a yearly suicide rate of 0.14 per 1,000, or 1 suicide in 7,000 persons, for the gen¬ eral population 18 years and older of Philadel¬ phia, the rate for a sample of attempted suicides was 19.5 per 1,000, or 1 suicide in 50 persons, during 1 year following the attempt.The second hypothesis was that the more closely attempted suicides approximate completed suicides in personal and social characteristics, the greater the likelihood of death from a sub¬ sequent attempt.The study demonstrated that, among age, sex, and race groups, persons 45 years of age and older, men, and whites were at higher risk, that is, had a higher death rate from suicide, than persons under 45, women, and non¬ whites.Many investigators have suggested that a number of other factors are associated with suicide risk (2-7).Some are personal char¬ acteristics, others relate to the social environ¬ ment, and still others concern the interaction of the two.Some factors are objective and readily determined, such as occupation, method, and marital status; others are rather subjective, for example, circumstances leading to the attempt and previous pattern of adjustment;