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A Follow‐up Study of 53 Suicides Known to a Suicide Prevention Center
Author(s) -
Sawyer John B.,
Sudak Howard S.,
Hall S. Richard
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1943-278x.1972.tb00087.x
Subject(s) - suicide prevention , poison control , injury prevention , medicine , occupational safety and health , center (category theory) , human factors and ergonomics , trauma center , suicide methods , referral , suicide rates , psychiatry , demography , medical emergency , gerontology , family medicine , retrospective cohort study , surgery , chemistry , pathology , sociology , crystallography
The operation of the Cleveland Suicide Prevention Center is reviewed, and 53 known suicides during the Center's first four years of operation are discussed. A suicide rate of 288 per 100,000 suggests that persons contacting the Center represented a high suicide risk group. Of the suicides, 57 percent were women. This high proportion of females was statistically significant when compared to the smaller percentage of female suicides for Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Of the persons who committed suicide, 26 percent initiated direct contact with the Center themselves, and none recontacted the Center just prior to death. The question is raised whether contact initiated by another may in itself be suggestive of greater suicidal risk. Some of the practical problems in evaluation and referral are discussed.