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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Schizophrenic patients face an increasing risk of suicide. We aimed to study the demographic as well as clinical risk factors for suicidal thoughts among schizophrenic patients.
METHODS: 100 schizophrenic patients with mean age of 32.96 year who did visit the psychiatric unit of Hawler Teaching Hospital from August 2009 to February 2010 were assessed for the risk of suicidal ideation by adopting standardized diagnostic and symptoms rating scales.
RESULTS: 23% of the sample shows moderate-high suicidal ideation. No particular demographic variable was a significant predictor for current suicidal ideation. However, past history of suicide attempt (OR = 0.095; P value = 0.001), concurrent depression (OR= 0.079; P value = 0.001), and positive psychotic symptoms (OR = 1.102; P value = 0.068) were more predictive for current suicidal ideation.
CONCLUSIONS: Suicide is an essential element when assessing patients with schizophrenia. Psychiatrists have to pay great attention to previous history of suicidal attempts, concurrent depressive disorders, and positive symptoms particularly hallucinatory behaviours. In addition, clinicians are required to distinguish between depressive and negative symptoms of schizophrenic patients. © 2013 Middle East Current Psychiatry.
Language: en |