An evaluation of factors underlying suicide attempts in patients presenting at George Hospital emergency centre

Figures & data

Table 1: Demographic characteristics of participants (N = 39)

Characteristic	Variables	n	%
Gender	Female	28	72
	Male	11	28
Marital status	Single	23	59
	Stable partner	11	28
	Married	3	8
	Divorced	1	3
	Missing	1	2
Employment status	Unemployed	18	7
	Scholar	6	15
	Employed	11	28
	Disability Grant	4	10

Table 2: Agent used in the suicide attempt (N = 39)

		n	%
Overdose medication	Paracetamol	4	10
	Amitriptyline	4	10
	Iron	2	5
	Epilepsy related	1	3
	Anti-hypertensive	5	13
	Benzodiazepines	2	5
	Diabetes-related	1	3
	Other	12	31
	Patient unsure	8	21
Who’s medication	Own	13	33
	Other	8	21
	Mother’s	6	15
	Grandmother’s	2	5
	Friend	1	3
	Not stated	9	23
Recreational drug use	None	32	82
	Metamphetamine (Tik)	1	3
	Marijuana (Dagga)	4	10
	Not stated	2	5

Table 3: Patients intentions and previous suicide attempts (N = 39)

		n	%
Previous suicide attempt	No	23	59
	Yes	16	41
If yes, how many times	1	7	44
	2	5	31
	3	2	13
	4	1	6
	Not stated	1	6
Intention to die	Yes	25	64
	No	12	31
	Not stated	2	5

Table 4: Patients’ reported emotions and support (N = 39)

		n	%
Emotions	Loneliness	10	26
	Helplessness	7	18
	Hopelessness	4	10
	Anger	6	15
	Other	6	15
	Emptiness	2	5
	Not stated	4	10
Something to look forward to	No	22	56
	Yes	15	39
	Not stated	2	5
Someone to talk to	No	17	44
	Yes	21	54
	Not stated	1	3

Table 5: Factors contributing to suicide attempt (N = 39)

	n	%
Disagreement with a loved one	21	54
Stress at home	13	33
Consumption of alcohol in last 24 hours	7	18
Financial worries	6	15
Previous attempted suicide by friend or family member	5	13
Violence involving intimate partner	4	10
A psychiatric illness	4	10
Pregnancy	3	8
Living with a chronic disease	2	5
Stress at school	1	3
Stress at work	1	3

Table

Male
Female

Table

________________________________

Table

Single
Married
Divorced
Widowed
Stable partner

Table

Scholar
Employed
Unemployed
Disability Grant
Pensioner

Table

Happy	
Content	
Sad	

Table

Paracetamol
Amitriptyline
Benzodiazepines
Epilepsy medication
Anti-hypertensives
Diabetes medication
Antibiotics
Iron
Other

Table

Own
Mother’s
Father’s
Grandmother’s
Grandfather’s
Friend
Other

Table

Dagga
Mandrax
Tik
None
Other

Table

Yes
No

Table

Yes
No

Table

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Helplessness
Hopelessness
Emptiness
Loneliness
Anger
Other

Table

Yes
No

Table

Yes
No

Table

Disagreement with loved ones
Living with a chronic disease (e.g. Diabetes/cancer/HIV/cardiac/lung)
Violence involving intimate partner
Consumption of alcohol during the 24 hours preceding your attempted suicide
Stress at home
Pregnancy
Stress at school
A psychiatric illness
Stress at work
Previous attempted suicide by a friend/family member
Financial worries