Unmasking depression in persons attempting suicide
Background: Suicidal behaviour is highly prevalent and increasing at an alarming rate among all socio-demographic groupings in South Africa. Approximately 9.5% of all unnatural deaths in young people in South Africa are due to suicide. The ratio of non-fatal suicide attempts to attempts with fatal o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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AOSIS
2015-04-01
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| Series: | South African Family Practice |
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| Online Access: | https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/4150 |
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| author | Soornarain S. Naidoo Uvistra Naidoo Ashantha Naidoo |
| author_facet | Soornarain S. Naidoo Uvistra Naidoo Ashantha Naidoo |
| author_sort | Soornarain S. Naidoo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Suicidal behaviour is highly prevalent and increasing at an alarming rate among all socio-demographic groupings in South Africa. Approximately 9.5% of all unnatural deaths in young people in South Africa are due to suicide. The ratio of non-fatal suicide attempts to attempts with fatal outcomes varies between 20:1 and 40:1 depending on the geographical region and the community composition being studied. Although depression is a common co-existing finding in many studies involving patients with suicidal behaviour, current evidence suggests that it is either not detected or it is inappropriately managed in clinical practice.
Aim: This study compared self-reported perceived and objectively assessed personal physical and mental well-being of adults attempting suicide and being admitted to two local community-based public hospitals in South Africa.
Method: Validated questionnaires were used to elicit relevant data from 688 adults attempting suicide and being admitted to two community-based public hospitals in Durban which was analysed using SPSS®.
Results: The majority of participants were female, single, younger age group, unemployed, low education and low income level. Only 30.3% of participants reported long-standing illnesses lasting more than 6 months. The majority perceived their physical and mental health to be normal. However, an objective assessment revealed a large number of participants to be suffering from varying levels of depression.
Conclusion: The study population comprised mainly the younger age group in both sexes, and showed that depression is an important co-morbid risk factor in suicidal behaviour in this and other groups. This finding cannot be ignored, and the authors endorse the call for a scaling up of screening strategies to diagnose depression, and for an improved prevention and management framework. (Full text available online at www.medpharm.tandfonline.com/ojfp) S Afr Fam Pract 2015; DOI: 10.1080/20786190.2014.1002219 |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3791bbe0db0a407a88cdc2b7b045088e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2078-6190 2078-6204 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-04-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | South African Family Practice |
| spelling | doaj-art-3791bbe0db0a407a88cdc2b7b045088e2025-08-20T03:43:46ZengAOSISSouth African Family Practice2078-61902078-62042015-04-0157210.4102/safp.v57i2.41504904Unmasking depression in persons attempting suicideSoornarain S. Naidoo0Uvistra Naidoo1Ashantha Naidoo2University of KwaZulu-NatalUniversity of KwaZulu-NatalUniversity of KwaZulu-NatalBackground: Suicidal behaviour is highly prevalent and increasing at an alarming rate among all socio-demographic groupings in South Africa. Approximately 9.5% of all unnatural deaths in young people in South Africa are due to suicide. The ratio of non-fatal suicide attempts to attempts with fatal outcomes varies between 20:1 and 40:1 depending on the geographical region and the community composition being studied. Although depression is a common co-existing finding in many studies involving patients with suicidal behaviour, current evidence suggests that it is either not detected or it is inappropriately managed in clinical practice. Aim: This study compared self-reported perceived and objectively assessed personal physical and mental well-being of adults attempting suicide and being admitted to two local community-based public hospitals in South Africa. Method: Validated questionnaires were used to elicit relevant data from 688 adults attempting suicide and being admitted to two community-based public hospitals in Durban which was analysed using SPSS®. Results: The majority of participants were female, single, younger age group, unemployed, low education and low income level. Only 30.3% of participants reported long-standing illnesses lasting more than 6 months. The majority perceived their physical and mental health to be normal. However, an objective assessment revealed a large number of participants to be suffering from varying levels of depression. Conclusion: The study population comprised mainly the younger age group in both sexes, and showed that depression is an important co-morbid risk factor in suicidal behaviour in this and other groups. This finding cannot be ignored, and the authors endorse the call for a scaling up of screening strategies to diagnose depression, and for an improved prevention and management framework. (Full text available online at www.medpharm.tandfonline.com/ojfp) S Afr Fam Pract 2015; DOI: 10.1080/20786190.2014.1002219https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/4150depressionsuicide attempterssouth africa |
| spellingShingle | Soornarain S. Naidoo Uvistra Naidoo Ashantha Naidoo Unmasking depression in persons attempting suicide South African Family Practice depression suicide attempters south africa |
| title | Unmasking depression in persons attempting suicide |
| title_full | Unmasking depression in persons attempting suicide |
| title_fullStr | Unmasking depression in persons attempting suicide |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unmasking depression in persons attempting suicide |
| title_short | Unmasking depression in persons attempting suicide |
| title_sort | unmasking depression in persons attempting suicide |
| topic | depression suicide attempters south africa |
| url | https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/4150 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT soornarainsnaidoo unmaskingdepressioninpersonsattemptingsuicide AT uvistranaidoo unmaskingdepressioninpersonsattemptingsuicide AT ashanthanaidoo unmaskingdepressioninpersonsattemptingsuicide |