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Demographic and clinical profile of young adult emergency ward patients in Serbia who attempted suicide by poisoning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective cohort study Cover

Demographic and clinical profile of young adult emergency ward patients in Serbia who attempted suicide by poisoning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective cohort study

Open Access
|Mar 2025

Figures & Tables

Gender distribution in relation to the demographic and clinical profile and characteristics of suicide attempts by poisoning in young adult patients (N=193)

Demographic and clinical profile N (%) or mean ± SDZ / chi-squared testp-value
Male (n=86)Female (n=107)
Age 22.16±2.1221.15±2.16−3.1430.002
Current mental disordersno32 (37.1)33 (30.8)0.0580.810
yes45 (52.2)64 (59.8)1.0820.298
NA9 (10.7)10 (9.4)2.3720.124
Current psychopharmacotherapyno35 (40.7)40 (37.3)0.2210.638
yes34 (39.5)45 (42.1)0.1220.726
NA17 (19.8)22 (20.6)0.0200.889
Self-harmno80 (93.0)97 (91.6)0.3720.542
yes6 (7.0)9 (7.5)0.1520.697
NA0 (0.0)1 (0.9)0.8100.368
Characteristics of suicide attempts by self-poisoning
Number of self-poisoning attempts164 (74.4)66 (61.7)3.5340.060
≥213 (15.1)33 (30.8)6.5020.011
NA9 (10.5)8 (7.5)0.5330.465
Year of self-poisoning202019 (22.1)20 (18.7)0.3360.562
202118 (20.9)31 (29.0)1.6380.201
202220 (23.3)29 (27.1)0.3720.542
202329 (33.7)27 (25.2)1.6640.197
Duration of hospitalisation (days) 3.63±5.202.39±1.88−1.2660.206
Reason for self- poisoningpersonal28 (32.6)40 (37.4)0.4900.484
family7 (8.1)11 (10.3)0.2600.610
health1 (1.2)1 (0.9)0.0260.873
NA50 (58.1)55 (51.4)1.1240.289
Number of substances used126 (30.2)42 (39.3)1.7000.226a
≥260 (69.8)65 (60.7)
History of previous self-poisoning attempts with prescription drugsno65 (75.6)71 (66.4)1.9600.162
yes11 (12.8)27 (25.2)4.6660.031
NA10 (11.6)9 (8.4)0.5630.453
Complications of self-poisoningno49 (57.0)78 (72.9)5.3700.023a
yes37 (43.0)29 (27.1)
Outcome of self-poisoningfatal3 (3.5)2 (1.9)0.4950.657a
non-fatal83 (96.5)105 (98.1)

Demographic and clinical profile of young adult emergency ward patients who attempted suicide by poisoning and characteristics of suicide attempts (N=193)

N (%) or mean ± SD
Genderfemale107 (55.4)
male86 (44.6)
Age (years) 21.60±2.20
Year of self-poisoning202039 (20.3)
202149 (25.4)
202249 (25.4)
202356 (28.9)
Current mental disorders 109 (56.5)
Categories of current mental disorderdepressive disorder22 (11.4)
neurotic disorder7 (3.6)
psychotic disorder5 (2.6)
personality disorder8 (4.1)
addiction14 (7.3)
NA53 (27.5)
Current psychopharmacotherapy 79 (40.9)
Categories of current psychopharmacotherapybenzodiazepines45 (23.3 )
antidepressants41 (21.2)
antipsychotics49 (25.4)
mood stabilisers46 (23.8)
Self-harm 15 (7.8)
Organic diseases 34 (16.1)
Organic medications 21 (10.9)
Characteristics of suicide attempts by poisoning
Duration of hospitalisation (days) 2.94±3.77
Number of attempts1130 (67.4)
≥246 (23.8)
NA17 (8.8)
Substances usedPrescription drugs137 (71.0)
PAS (illegal drugs / alcohol)4 (2.1)
Prescription drugs + PAS33 (17.1)
Other (corrosives, insecticides, acid)9 (4.7)
Prescription drugs + other (corrosives, insecticides, acid)10 (5.1)
Number of substances used168 (35.2)
≥2125 (64.8)
Prescription drugs used in self-poisoningbenzodiazepines109 (56.5)
antidepressants28 (14.5)
antipsychotics50 (25.9)
affective stabilizers67 (34.7)
cardiovascular29 (15.0)
analgesics38 (19.7)
History of previous attempts at self-poisoning with prescription drugs 38 (19.7)
Reason for self-poisoningpersonal issues68 (35.2)
family issues18 (9.3)
health issues2 (1.0)
NA104 (53.9)
Complications of self-poisoning 66 (34.2)
Outcome of self-poisoningnon-fatal188 (97.4)
fatal5 (2.6)

Pearson’s correlation between the clinical profile and characteristics of suicide attempts by poisoning in young adult patients (N=193)

Characteristics of suicide attempts by self-poisoningClinical profile
Current mental disordersCurrent psychopharmacotherapySelf-harmOrganic diseasesOrganic medications
Number of suicide attempts0.283**0.317**0.176*0.0830.020
History of previous suicide attempts with prescription drugs0.269**0.268**−0.0710.0950.053
Number of substances used0.304**0.288**0.166*0.0860.089
Complications of self-poisoning0.1880.1060.053−0.086−0.049
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aiht-2025-76-3933 | Journal eISSN: 1848-6312 | Journal ISSN: 0004-1254
Language: English, Croatian, Slovenian
Page range: 37 - 43
Submitted on: Dec 1, 2024
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Accepted on: Feb 1, 2025
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Published on: Mar 31, 2025
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

© 2025 Maja Petrović, Ana Simić, Katarina Simić, Gordana Vuković Ercegović, Nataša Perković Vukčević, Slavica Vučinić, Zvezdana Stojanović, published by Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.