Problematic substance abuse and history of suicidal behavior in female patients in an acute mental healt service

Abstract

Current publications that analyze operational and epidemiologic variables in the Argentinian Mental Health System are scarce. Several international studies have found a correlation between substance abuse and suicidal behavior. However, to our knowledge, there are no local studies that verify this association, especially in hospitalized female patients. The aim of this study is to verify this association in a population of female patients hospitalized in a Mental Health Hospital between august 2007 and july 2013. The electronic database of the Emergency department of the “Braulio A. Moyano” Neuropsychiatric Hospital was used as secondary source. The correlation between problematic substance use and history of suicidal behavior was studied, according to the type of substance used, diagnosis and age of the sample. These results might allow the creation of hypotheses that may benefit the planning and clinical practice in mental health in the local area.