Table 5 Rates of psychiatric illness and alcohol use in those who have attempted self-poisoning
From: Characteristics of non-fatal self-poisoning in Sri Lanka: a systematic review
Study | Method of Psychiatric Assessment | Rates of psychiatric illness and alcohol use among study participants (and details where available) |
|---|---|---|
Fernando 1977 [35] | Participants interviewed as part of the study. Further details of psychiatric assessment not available. | • Psychiatric illness: 15.9% (this included schizophrenia, depression and mental retardation) |
Chandrasena 1981 [29] | Participants interviewed as part of the study. Further details of psychiatric assessment not available. | • Psychiatric illness – 13% |
• Alcoholism – 2% | ||
Senanayake et al. 1986 [36] | Information based on administrative records. | • Psychiatric illness - 5% (in Jaffna region) & 2.3% (in Peradeniya region) |
• Alcohol consumption at time of poisoning: 4% (in Peradeniya region) | ||
Hettiarachchi et al. 1989 [33] | Participants interviewed as part of the study. Further details of psychiatric assessment not available. | • Psychiatric illness – 13.4% (Depression and schizophrenia present in equal numbers, in 77% of psychiatric illness) |
• Alcoholism - 7% | ||
Seneviratne et al. 1999 [37] | A psychiatric assessment of each participant was conducted by a specialist psychiatrist. | • Depression – 18.5% |
• Schizophrenia – 1.2% | ||
• Alcoholism – 10.7% | ||
Eddleston et al. 1999 [25] | Participants interviewed as part of the study. No formal psychiatric assessment. | • Alcohol intoxicated at the time of self-poisoning: 50% of male participants |
De Silva et al. 2000 [34] | Data obtained from hospital records. | • Use of alcohol before/during self-poisoning: 6% |
Van Der Hoek et al. 2005 [14] | A small subsample of the study population was assessed using a questionnaire based on the Composite Diagnostic Interview Short Form (CIDI-SF). | • Alcohol dependence is significantly associated with increased risk of self-poisoning. |
• No significant association between depression and self-poisoning (sub sample) | ||
• Alcohol intoxicated at time of self-poisoning: 36% | ||
Konradsen et al. 2006 [22] | Based on interviews and focus group discussions. | • Life threatening illness or disability or mental illness– 8% |
• Alcohol intoxicated at time of self-poisoning: 32% (all males) |