. Zohreh Sedghy; . Naser Yoosefi; . Ali Navidian
Volume 10, Issue 9 , September 2020, , Pages 1-8
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Unless mental health care is provided to suicide attemptersafter discharge from the emergency department, suicide prevention opportunities may be lost. Thepurpose ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Unless mental health care is provided to suicide attemptersafter discharge from the emergency department, suicide prevention opportunities may be lost. Thepurpose of this study was to determine the effect of motivational interviewing (MI)‑based training onusing mental health services and reducing the severity of suicidal thoughts.METHODS: This quasi‑experimental study was performed on seventy suicide attempters who hadbeen admitted to the emergency department of three university hospitals in Southeast Iran in 2019.Eligible patients were chosen through convenience sampling, and they were randomly divided into theexperimental (n = 35) and control (n = 35) groups. The intervention group received three MI sessionson the day of discharge and the 1st week after discharge. Twelve weeks after the intervention, theBeck Scale for Suicidal Ideation and the using mental health services were completed in both thegroups. Data were analyzed using Chi‑squared test, independent t‑test, and paired t‑test.RESULTS: While there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of the meanscore of suicidal ideation on the pretest, the experimental group experienced a significant decreasein this respect at the end of the study; thus, this group scored 8.86 ± 5.30, which is considerablylower than that obtained in the control group (15.85 ± 6.65) (P = 0.0001). Furthermore, at the end ofthe study, the rate of using mental health services increased much more in the experimental groupthan in the control group (P = 0.01).CONCLUSION: MI training had a significant positive impact on mitigating suicidal ideation andpromoting mental health services use. To improve mental health and to better serve suicidalindividuals, it is recommended that short‑term interventions be developed in the form of post‑dischargeeducation for suicidal patients admitted to the emergency department.
