Abstract

PICARELLI, Cristiane; HUBNER, Carlos  and  RODRIGUES, Cibele. Suicide prevention: changing perception and knowledge of medical students. Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2020, vol.21, n.2, pp.446-455. ISSN 1645-0086.  https://doi.org/10.15309/20psd210219.

Suicide is a critical global public health problem. According to the World Health Organization, in 2012, suicide rate reached 800,000 deaths, the equivalent of one suicide every 40 seconds. It is known that suicide prevention is possible and should not just be a task of specialized health professionals alone. The present study aimed to evaluate the perception and knowledge of medical students regarding suicide and to enable them to carry out the appropriate approach. This is an educational, quantitative, prospective, descriptive, analytical and interventional clinical trial. A validated Suicide Behavior Attitude Questionnaire (SBAQ) was administered, along with the acquisition of sociodemographic data sample of 87 medical students. The training was carried out through two stages: 1^st) presentation of selected excerpts from films on the theme, with subsequent problematization and debate; 2^nd) dramatization of real situations. The Statistical Data Analysis (SPSS) version 17.0 was used to analyze the questionnaires, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Wilcoxon tests were also done. The sample consisted, predominantly, of Caucasian women, about 24 years old, upper middle class and catholic. It was observed a significant reduction of negative feelings towards the patient who presented suicide attempt and a better perception of the professional capacity and conception about the right to suicide hardly changed. Trained students perceive themselves more capable of recognizing the patient who is at risk for suicide and feel more secure in providing care. It is possible to promote positive changes in students’ perception and knowledge regarding suicide through the use of active teaching-learning methodologies.

Keywords : Suicide; students; medical; education; medical; interdisciplinary placement; learning; instructional films and videos; simulation.

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