Riesgo suicida en poblacion carcelaria del Tolima, Colombia

Background. Prisons involve risk, which can generate suicidal behavior, since the imprisonment hits signicantly to subjects who experience this condition. Objective. The aim of this investigation was to characterize suicide risk in male prison population of the department of Tolima, Colombia. Materials and methods. Quantitative, descriptive and transversal study. With a sample of 122 inmates were applied two evaluation instruments: ISO-30 measuring suicide risk and a social-demographic questionnaire. Results. 16.4% of the population has a high suicide risk. 22.2% of those who had made previous suicide attempts had shown a high risk, compared with 15.9% of those who had not. When reviewing the risk and schooling, it was found that the level of risk decreases with increasing educational level, the same situation is done among those with partners and children making these three variables on potential protective factors. Conclusions. Higher levels of suicidal ideation were found to those found in the general population. A direct relationship between the social and family network is identied and also protection against suicide risk.