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Klimkiewicz A, Ilgen MA, Bohnert AS, Jakubczyk A, Wojnar M, Brower KJ. Suicide attempts during heavy drinking episodes among individuals entering alcohol treatment in Warsaw, Poland. Alcohol and Alcoholism. 2012 Sep 1; 47(5):571-6.
Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects. AIMS: Acute alcohol intoxication itself may act as a trigger for suicidal thoughts and attempts among individuals at risk and may influence the potential lethality of the suicide attempt. This study in alcohol-dependent patients compared the correlates of suicide attempts during a heavy drinking episode with those of suicide attempts during relative sobriety. METHODS: In two outpatient and two residential alcohol treatment programs in Warsaw, Poland, 113 patients who reported a suicide attempt during their lifetime were interviewed. The analyses focused on the patients' most serious suicide attempts and on whether these occurred during a heavy drinking episode. RESULTS: Over two-thirds of the patients reported that their most serious suicide attempt occurred during a period of heavy drinking. A multivariable logistic model indicated that the following factors significantly distinguished those patients whose most serious suicide attempt occurred during a heavy drinking episode: male gender, younger current age, greater severity of alcohol dependence and the attempt being unplanned. CONCLUSION: Among the patients in treatment for alcohol dependence who made a suicide attempt, the most serious attempt was likely to have been unplanned and committed by men when it occurred during a heavy drinking episode.
