Table 2.
Characteristics of suicide attempts reported by the Belgian Network of Sentinel General Practices (SGP) in Flanders, 2013–2016 (n=245)
| Baseline data | N (%) | N missing values (%) |
| Patient sex (valid n=245) | ||
| Women | 157 (64.1) | 0 (0.0) |
| Patient age in years (valid n=245) | 0 (0.0) | |
| <30 | 71 (29.0) | |
| 30–49 | 82 (33.5) | |
| 50–64 | 56 (22.9) | |
| ≥65 | 36 (14.7) | |
| GP informant of suicide attempt (valid n=241) | 4 (1.6) | |
| GP was on site as first caregiver following the suicide attempt | 46 (19.1) | |
| Hospital (emergency service) where patient received care | 102 (42.3) | |
| Patient | 28 (11.6) | |
| Patient proxies | 65 (27.0) | |
| GP–patient contact in month preceding attempt (valid n=245) | 134 (54.7) | 0 (0.0) |
| Suicide risk was noticed by GP in month preceding attempt (valid n=120) | 25 (20.8) | 14 (10.5) |
| Patient received hospital care following suicide attempt (valid n=238) | 212 (89.1) | 7 (2.9) |
| Patient did previous suicide attempt(s) (valid n=223) | 55 (24.7) | 22 (9.0) |
| Patient mental status in past 12 months (valid n=235) | 10 (4.1) | |
| No mental disorder | 63 (26.8) | |
| Mental disorder other than depression | 36 (15.3) | |
| Depression | 136 (57.9) | |
| Patient with mental disorder received specialised mental healthcare (valid n=172) | 102 (59.3) | 0 (0.0) |
| Method of suicide attempt (valid n=241) | 4 (1.6) | |
| Self-intoxication alone | 174 (72.2) | |
| Self-injury alone | 57 (23.7) | |
| Self-injury and self- intoxication | 10 (4.2) |
| Follow-up data | ||
| GP–patient contact after attempt (valid n=242) | 219 (90.5) | 3 (1.2) |
| GP contact with patient proxies (valid n=234) | 147 (62.8) | 11 (4.5) |
| Patient follow-up appointments scheduled (valid n=226) | 98 (43.4) | 19 (7.8) |
| Patient was receiving specialised mental healthcare (valid n=190) | 123 (64.7) | 55 (22.5) |
| GP received hospital care information (valid n=199) | 135 (67.8) | 13 (6.1) |
| Patient repeated suicidal behaviour (valid n=191) | 19 (10.0) | 54 (22.0) |
| SGP location characteristics | ||
| Urbanisation of the SGP location (valid n=245) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Suburban | 88 (35.9) | |
| Urban | 157 (64.1) | |
| Province (valid n=245) | 0 (0.0) | |
| West Flanders | 51 (20.8) | |
| East Flanders | 45 (18.4) | |
| Antwerp | 93 (38.0) | |
| Flemish Brabant | 18 (7.4) | |
| Limburg | 38 (15.5) |
The 10 care measures are in bold.
GP, general practitioner.