@article{ref1,
title="Psychiatric comorbidity and its impact on mortality in patients who attempted suicide by paraquat poisoning during 2000-2010",
journal="PLoS one",
year="2014",
author="Lin, Chemin and Yen, Tzung-Hai and Juang, Yeong-Yuh and Lin, Ja-Liang and Lee, Shwu-Hua",
volume="9",
number="11",
pages="e112160-e112160",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Paraquat poisoning is a lethal method of suicide used around the world. Although restricting its accessibility had been widely discussed, the underlying psychopathological mechanism of paraquat self-poisoning and its association with mortality have not yet been explicitly evaluated. <br><br>METHODS: We included all patients admitted to a tertiary general hospital in Taiwan between 2000 and 2010 following a suicide attempt by paraquat self-administration. Diagnoses were made upon psychiatric consultation based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria. The risk of mortality was calculated by logistic regression with various psychiatric or medical covariates. <br><br>RESULTS: The consultation-liaison psychiatry team assessed 157 patients who attempted suicide by paraquat poisoning. Mood disorders (54.0%), including dysthymic (26.7%) and major depressive disorders (24.7%), were the most common psychiatric diagnoses among the self-poisoning patients. Among those who attempted suicide, 87 patients (58.0%) died and dysthymic disorder (OR = 5.58, 95% CI: 1.13-27.69; p<0.05) significantly increased the mortality risk after adjustment for relevant medical variables, including age, gender, severity index of paraquat poisoning (SIPP), and risk for respiratory failure. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Awareness of comorbid psychiatric illnesses, especially dysthymic disorder, is vital in the prevention and treatment of suicide by paraquat poisoning.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1932-6203",
doi="10.1371/journal.pone.0112160",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112160"
}