Background:

One of the population groups at higher risk of suicide is that of people who attend mental health institutions.

Objective:

To know the demographic and clinical characteristics of people admitted for suicidal ideation and suicide attempt to the observation area of a psychiatric hospital in a period of 10 non-consecutive months.

Material and methods:

Retrospective, descriptive, correlational study. A total of 439 medical records were collected, out of which 62.9% (n = 276) corresponded to women, 36.7% (n = 161) to men and 0.5% (n = 2) to transgender people; age ranged from 17 to 74 years.

Results:

The highest incidence of cases was observed between 18 and 25 years of age; the most frequent diagnosis was depressive disorder, and 45.5% (n = 200) of the cases had a suicide attempt. The main method for committing a suicidal act was poisoning by taking various medications, followed by self-inflicted injuries with sharp objects. A positive correlation was found between suicide attempt and self-harm (χ2 = 1.965, p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

The findings highlight the importance of early identification of risk factors that may contribute to an increase in suicidal behaviors.