Author(s)

Cosme Alvarado-Esquivel, Jesús Hernández-Tinoco, Luis Francisco Sánchez-Anguiano, Carlos Alberto Arnaud-Gil, Luis Fernando Molina-Espinoza

Biomedical Research Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine and Nutrition, Juárez University of Durango State, Durango, Mexico.
Hospital of Mental Health “Dr. Miguel Vallebueno”, Secretary of Health, Durango, Mexico.
Institute for Scientific Research “Dr. Roberto Rivera Damm”, Juárez University of Durango State, Durango, Mexico.

Background: The association of eating habits and suicide attempts has been insufficiently studied. Aim: This study aimed to determine the eating habits associated with suicide attempts in a sample of psychiatric outpatients. Methods: Through a case control study design, 283 psychiatric outpatients attending in two public hospitals in Durango City, Mexico were studied. Of the 283 patients, 156 have had suicide attempts and 127 have not had suicide attempts. Eating habits were obtained from all outpatients and compared in patients with history of suicide attempts and patients without such history. Results: Logistic regression analysis showed differences in eating habits between psychiatric outpatients with and without history of suicide attempts. A history of suicide attempts was positively associated with consumption of pork (OR = 2.35, 95% CI: 1.17 - 4.71; P = 0.01), mutton (OR = 2.38, 95% CI: 1.25 - 4.52; P = 0.008), chorizo (OR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.04 - 4.19; P = 0.03), unwashed raw vegetables (OR = 3.23, 95% CI: 1.26 - 8.32; P = 0.01), and untreated water (OR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.03 - 3.02; P = 0.03), and negatively associated with consumption of goat meat (OR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.17 - 0.90; P = 0.02), and turkey meat (OR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.23 - 0.73; P = 0.002). Conclusions: This is the first report on the association of eating habits with suicide attempts in psychiatric outpatients. Results suggest that suicide attempts are associated not only with the type of meat consumed but also with poor food hygiene in psychiatric outpatients. Further studies to confirm or challenge such results are needed.

Epidemiology; Case-Control Study; Suicide Attempts; Psychiatric Patients; Eating Habits; Mexico

Alvarado-Esquivel, C. , Hernández-Tinoco, J. , Sánchez-Anguiano, L. , Arnaud-Gil, C. and Molina-Espinoza, L. (2014) Eating habits associated with a history of suicide attempts in psychiatric outpatients. Health, 6, 317-322. doi: 10.4236/health.2014.65046.