What to Expect After a First Suicide Attempt by Overdose

Nonfatal suicide attempts raise risk for subsequent completed suicide. To obtain better data about this well-known phenomenon (in particular, suicide following a first attempt by overdose), researchers conducted a cohort study of all residents of Ontario, Canada, and the medical care they received between 2002 and 2010 (including emergency room visits and hospitalizations for suicide attempts). Patients were followed through 2011 or until death from any cause.

During a median follow-up of 5.3 years, 1.5% of 65,784 patients who were discharged alive after a deliberate overdose committed suicide. This rate was 42 times the rate of suicide in a matched population without initial nonfatal overdose. Median time from hospital discharge to complete…