Effectiveness of a nationwide aftercare program for suicide attempters

The effectiveness of large-scale interventions to prevent suicide among persons who previously attempted suicide remains to be determined. The National Suicide Surveillance System (NSSS), launched in Taiwan in 2006, is a structured nationwide intervention program for people who survived their suicid...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological medicine 2013-07, Vol.43 (7), p.1447-1454
Main Authors: Pan, Y.-J., Chang, W.-H., Lee, M.-B., Chen, C.-H., Liao, S.-C., Caine, E. D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
After care
Aftercare - methods
Age Factors
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Death
Female
Humans
Intervention
Interventions
Logistic Models
Male
Medical sciences
Mental Disorders
Middle Aged
Odds Ratio
Original Articles
Prevention programs
Psychiatric disorders
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Risk Factors
Sex Factors
Suicidal behaviour
Suicide
Suicide - prevention & control
Suicide, Attempted
Suicides & suicide attempts
Survivor
Taiwan
Time Factors
Treatment Outcome
Young Adult
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Summary:The effectiveness of large-scale interventions to prevent suicide among persons who previously attempted suicide remains to be determined. The National Suicide Surveillance System (NSSS), launched in Taiwan in 2006, is a structured nationwide intervention program for people who survived their suicide attempts. This naturalistic study examined its effectiveness using data from the first 3 years of its operation. Method Effectiveness of the NSSS aftercare services was examined using a logistic/proportional odds mixture model, with eventual suicide as the outcome of interest. As well, we examined time until death for those who died and factors associated with eventual suicide. Receipt of aftercare services was associated with reduced risk for subsequent suicide; for service recipients who eventually killed themselves, there was a prolonged duration between the index and fatal attempts. Elderly attempters were particularly prone to a shorter duration between the index and fatal attempts. Male gender, the lethality potential of the index attempt, and a history of having had a mental disorder also were associated with higher risk. The structured aftercare program of the NSSS appears to decrease suicides and to delay time to death for those who remained susceptible to suicide.
ISSN:0033-2917
1469-8978
DOI:10.1017/S0033291712002425