Increased incidence of high-lethality suicide attempts after the declaration of the state of alarm due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Salamanca: A real-world observational study

Llanyra García-Ullán; Javier I de la Iglesia-Larrad; Diego Remón-Gallo; Nerea M Casado-Espada; Sinta Gamonal-Limcaoco; María Teresa Lozano; Lourdes Aguilar; Carlos Roncero

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114578

Increased incidence of high-lethality suicide attempts after the declaration of the state of alarm due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Salamanca: A real-world observational study

Psychiatry Res. 2022 Jun:312:114578. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114578. Epub 2022 Apr 26.

Authors

Llanyra García-Ullán¹, Javier I de la Iglesia-Larrad², Diego Remón-Gallo³, Nerea M Casado-Espada¹, Sinta Gamonal-Limcaoco⁴, María Teresa Lozano⁴, Lourdes Aguilar¹, Carlos Roncero⁵

Affiliations

¹ Psychiatry Service, University of Salamanca Health Care Complex, Salamanca, Spain; Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Psychiatry Unit, School of Medicine, University of Salamanca, Spain.
² Psychiatry Service, University of Salamanca Health Care Complex, Salamanca, Spain; Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
³ Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Psychiatry Unit, School of Medicine, University of Salamanca, Spain.
⁴ Psychiatry Service, University of Salamanca Health Care Complex, Salamanca, Spain.
⁵ Psychiatry Service, University of Salamanca Health Care Complex, Salamanca, Spain; Institute of Biomedicine of Salamanca (IBSAL), University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Psychiatry Unit, School of Medicine, University of Salamanca, Spain. Electronic address: croncero@saludcastillayleon.es.

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has led to people getting involved in harmful behaviors. In our observational study, we assessed 241 patients with suicidal thoughts or behaviors in the emergency room before, during, and after the lockdown, from January to July 2020. After the lockdown, retired patients made higher-lethality attempts, and consultations related to suicide were less frequent, but active suicidal behaviors were more frequent. Men tended to use more lethal methods, and women made more suicidal gestures and had more suicide-related consultations. We observed an increase in the lethality of the attempts after the declaration of the state of alarm.

Keywords: COVID-19; Risk factors; Suicide.

Publication types

Observational Study

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Communicable Disease Control
Female
Humans
Incidence
Male
Pandemics
Suicidal Ideation
Suicide, Attempted*