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Integrating a Suicide Prevention Program Into the Primary Health Care Network: A Field Trial Study in Iran Publisher Pubmed



Malakouti SK1 ; Nojomi M2 ; Poshtmashadi M3 ; Hakim Shooshtari M1 ; Mansouri Moghadam F4 ; Rahimimovaghar A5 ; Afghah S6 ; Bolhari J1 ; Bazarganhejazi S7, 8
Authors
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Authors Affiliations
  1. 1. Mental Health Research Center, School of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  2. 2. Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 14155-5988, Iran
  3. 3. Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  4. 4. Mental Health Bureau, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Lorestan, Iran
  5. 5. Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies (INCAS), Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  6. 6. Department of Psychiatry, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  7. 7. Department of Psychiatry, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, 1731 East 120th Street, Los Angeles, 90059, CA, United States
  8. 8. David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, CA, United States

Source: BioMed Research International Published:2015


Abstract

Objective. To describe and evaluate the feasibility of integrating a suicide prevention program with Primary Health Care services and evaluate if such system can improve screening and identification of depressive disorder, reduce number of suicide attempters, and lower rate of suicide completion. Methodology. This was a quasi-experimental trial in which one community was exposed to the intervention versus the control community with no such exposure. The study sites were two counties in Western Iran. The intervention protocol called for primary care and suicide prevention collaboration at different levels of care. The outcome variables were the number of suicides committed, the number of documented suicide attempts, and the number of identified depressed cases. Results. We identified a higher prevalence of depressive disorders in the intervention site versus the control site (χ 2 = 14.8, P < 0.001). We also found a reduction in the rate of suicide completion in the intervention region compared to the control, but a higher prevalence of suicide attempts in both the intervention and the control sites. Conclusion. Integrating a suicide prevention program with the Primary Health Care network enhanced depression and suicide surveillance capacity and subsequently reduced the number of suicides, especially in rural areas. © 2015 Seyed Kazem Malakouti et al.