Contact With Mental Health and Primary Care Providers Before Suicide: a Review of the Evidence

The authors reviewed 40 studies for information available on rates of health care contact, & examined age & gender differences among the subjects. Contact with primary care providers before suicide was found to be common. While three of four suicide victims had contact with primary care providers within the year of suicide, approximately one-third had contact with mental health services. On average, 45% of suicide victims had contact with primary care providers within 1 month of suicide. Older adults had higher rates contact that younger adults. (61 refs)