Abstract : BACKGROUND:
We aimed to describe primary care management at the time of a suicide
attempt (SA) and after the SA.
METHODS:
An observational (cross-sectional) study was conducted among 166
sentinel GPs within France (a non-gatekeeping country) between 2013 and
2017 for all GP's patients who attempted suicide.
MEASUREMENTS:
frequency of patients 1) managed by the GP at the time of the SA, 2)
addressed to an emergency department (ED), 3) without care at the time
of the SA, and 4) managed by the GP after the SA and factors associated
with GP management at the time of and after the SA.
RESULTS:
Three hundred twenty-one SAs were reported, of which N = 95 (29.6%) were
managed by the GP at the time of the SA, N = (70.5%) were referred to
an ED, and N = (27.4%) remained at home. Forty-eight (14.9%) patients
did not receive any care at the time of the SA and 178 (55.4%) were
managed directly by an ED. GPs were more likely to be involved in
management of the patient at the time of the SA if they were younger
(39.2% for patients < 34 years old; 22.9% for those 35 to 54 years
old, and 30.3% for those more than 55 years old p = 0.02) or the SA
involved a firearm or self-cutting (51.9%) versus those involving drugs
(23.7%); p = 0.006). After the SA, GPs managed 174 patients (54.2%),
more often (60%) when they provided care at home at the time of the SA,
p = 0.04; 1.87 [1.07; 3.35]. No other factor was associated with
management by GPs after the SA.
CONCLUSIONS:
The study faced limitations: data were not available for patients
managed solely by specialists during their SA and results may not be
generalisable to countries with a stronger gatekeeping system. We
concluded that GPs are involved in the management of patients at the
time of a SA for a third of patients. EDs are the major provider of care
at that time. Half patients consulted GPs after the SA and connections
between GPs and ED upon discharge should be improved.
Soumis le : vendredi 10 avril 2020 - 18:00:54
Fichier s12875-020-01126-9.pdf
Citation
Nadia Younès, Mathieu Rivière, Frédéric Urbain, Romain Pons, Thomas Hanslik, et al.. Management in primary care at the time of a suicide attempt and its impact on care post-suicide attempt: an observational study in the French GP sentinel surveillance system. BMC Family Practice, BioMed Central, 2020, 21 (1), pp.55. ⟨10.1186/s12875-020-01126-9⟩. ⟨hal-02540233⟩