Telephone Contact With Patients in the Year After a Suicide Attempt: Does it Affect Treatment Attendance and Outcome? A Randomised Controlled Study
Cedereke M~~Monti K~~Ojehagen A
A randomised controlled study was performed to investigate the influence of repeated telephone contacts on treatment attendance, repetition of suicidal behaviour, & mental health the year after a suicide attempt. 1 month after their first attempt, 216 patients were randomised to either 2 telephone interventions in addition to treatment as usual or no such intervention in the subsequent year. At follow-up, treatment attendance was high & did not differ between the randomised groups. Among those with an initial treatment contact other than psychiatric, more patients in the intervention group had such contact at follow-up. The randomised groups did not differ in repetition of suicide attempts during follow-up. In individuals with no initial treatment the intervention group improved more in certain psychological symptom dimensions. (32 refs.)