Evaluation of cases presenting to the emergency department due to suicide attempt: a one-year retrospective study

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the characteristics of the patients who applied to the emergency department due to suicide in last year before the suicide attempt. Materials and Methods: Within the scope of the retrospective study, files of 135 patients who applied to emergency of a training and research hospital between 1 August 2018 and 1 August 2019 with a suicide attempt were examined. Data was collected from hospital records through a data collection form. Results: The mean age of patients was 31.24 +/- 11.31 and 53.3% were male. Patients attempted suicide 37% in the spring. It was determined that 94.8% of the patients attempted suicide 1-3 times in last year and 62.3% wanted to kill themselves by taking drugs. Patients presenting with suicide, 34.8% went to a psychiatrist, 78.5% applied to emergency at least once in last year, 84.4% went to hospital with another complaints before suicide. It was determined that 80% of the patients did not receive psychiatric consultation in the emergency. Conclusion: According to the findings; patients applied to hospital for various reasons before suicide, the most frequently applied area was emergency, and have repeated suicide attempts and most of patients did not receive psychiatric help. It was recommended that cases who applied to emergency department with reason of suicide should be identified and directed to psychiatry outpatient clinics to receive psychiatric care and followed up.