Seriousness and lethality of attempted suicide: a systematic review

The concepts of seriousness and lethality of suicide attempts are essential to the assessment of suicide risk and, therefore, to prevent suicidal behavior. A review of the literature was conducted in order to identify the most important factors that increase the seriousness and potential lethality of attempted suicide. The factors identified were incorporated into four main categories: progression along the suicide continuum; age and gender; mental disorders and method of suicide. Although each category contains independent risk factors for the severity of the suicide attempt, their combination both within and, above all, between them, has emerged as the most important predictor of suicidal behavior.