Psychiatry Investig.
2025 Feb;22(2):175-185. 10.30773/pi.2024.0095.
Analyzing the Impact of Social Distancing Policies During COVID-19 on the Risk and Rescue of Suicide Attempters Presenting to the Emergency Department: Applying the Risk-Rescue Rating Scale
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 2Department of Emergency Medical Technology, Sun Moon University, Asan, Republic of Korea
- 3Department of Psychology, Sogang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 4Department of Emergency Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, Bucheon, Republic of Korea
- KMID: 2564770
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.30773/pi.2024.0095
Abstract
Objective
This study aimed to investigate characteristics of suicide attempters who visited the emergency department to identify physical risk factors and rescue factors, and to assess the impact of social distancing during coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) on suicide attempters.
Methods
The study utilized data from the medical records of suicide attempters who visited the Bucheon Regional Emergency Medical Center of Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital for 3 years from 2019 and the consultation records of the Life Love Crisis Response Team. This cross-sectional study analyzed changes in risk and rescue characteristics of suicide attempters before, during, and after the implementation of social distancing policies. The Risk-Rescue Rating Scale (RRRS) was used to assess the risk and rescue of suicide attempters.
Results
During the implementation of social distancing, the RRRS for physical risk demonstrated a 1.67-fold increase in low-risk cases, which further escalated to a 2.39-fold increase post-implementation compared to the period prior to social distancing. Additionally, the RRRS indicated that behaviors became 1.44 times less rescued amid social distancing, with increased tendencies to conceal the act to evade detection and a reluctance to seek help (p<0.001).
Conclusion
Our findings indicate that it is important to develop suicide prevention programs for low-risk suicide attempts and to identify the characteristics of suicide attempts that occur during large-scale social isolation, such as infectious diseases, in order to develop strategies for suicide prevention in the future.
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