Patients Admitted to ICU After a Suicide Attempt

NCT06966505 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 202196REK
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 86
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to increase the knowledge on the experience and symptom profile to suicide attempters admitted to an ICU. Suicide is one of the most frequent causes of death in young age groups in Norway, and the rates has not decreased in Norway in 20 years despite governmental and health care actions when it comes to prevention, knowledge and treatment. The medically most serious suicide attempts need treatment in intensive care units (ICU). In addition, being an ICU patient is associated with the experience of several traumatic events and symptoms related to treatment. These experiences often have a negative impact on their quality-of-life post discharge. In addition, patients who have tried to end their life often have experienced negative life events prior to the suicide attempt. A systematic review conducted on attitudes towards people who self-harm, pointed out inappropriate staff behaviour, lack of patient-involvement, poor knowledge among the health care professionals and issues with aftercare to this particular patient group. Healthcare personnel are important stakeholders in suicide prevention, but they can experience lack of confidence when caring for suicidal patients and negative attitudes have an impact on access to treatment. Building knowledge addressing mental health stigma and negative attitudes is possible with training and education. As there are little evidence regarding the experience, symptom profile and the follow up for this specific sub-group of the ICU population, this project aims to investigate three aspects affecting the suicide attempt patient in the ICU; First, the symptom burden of suicide attempt patients experienced both in the ICU and post-discharge during 6 months will be examined. Second, the ICU nurses' attitudes towards the suicide attempt patient will be explored. Finally, after ICU discharge the patients feeling of hopelessness and other symptoms will be investigated, and the general experience as an ICU patient. This project is highly innovative and will fill a significant gap in knowledge.

Conditions

Suicide Attempt

Keywords

Suicide attempters in ICU; ICU

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Symptoms

  Symptoms will be measured using Patients Symptom Survey (10 symptoms), and is a multi-dimensional symptom Assessment Scale developed for the ICU population.

  Day 1 in the ICU (or first possible day to self-report), and at 3 and 6 months after ICU admission.

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Hopelessness

  Day 1 in the ICU (or first possible day to self-report) and at 3 and 6 months after ICU admission

Study Arms (1)

Patients that has been admitted to the ICU after a suicide attempt

We have only included suicide attempters that have been admitted to an ICU

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients admitted to an ICU after a suicide attempt.

You may qualify if:

• Patients that have attempted suicide, and
• patients ≥18 years, and
• have been ≥12hours in the ICU
• suicide attempt have been defined as "a potentially self-injurious behaviour with a non-fatal outcome, for which there is evidence (either explicit or implicit) that the person intended at some (non-zero) level to end their lives. A suicide attempt may or may not result in injuries". All suicide methods leading to hospitalization are included (hanging, drowning, jump/ fall from heights, shooting, self-poisoning, cutting and other methods), as defined in International classification of diseases version 10 (ICD-10, chapter X)
• trained research personnel from the research group will conduct the evaluation with the medical team treating the patient to identify the suicide attempt patient

You may not qualify if:

• Not able to read or understand Norwegian
• Patients with no permanent address in Norway

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Oslo University Hospital: lead
• Diakonhjemmet Hospital: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Emergency Departement

Oslo, Oslo County, 0327, Norway

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Suicide, Attempted

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Suicide; Self-Injurious Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 11, 2025
• First Posted: May 12, 2025
• Study Start: August 15, 2021
• Primary Completion: December 15, 2023
• Study Completion: December 15, 2023
• Last Updated: May 12, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Locations

NO (1)