In Spain, suicide has become the leading cause of violent death, ahead of traffic accidents. Prevention programs are based on risk factors of suicidal behavior, which are mainly drawn from studies of suicide attempts and to a lesser extent, from studies of completed suicide.

Our main objectives were to determine if difference exists between suicide completion and suicide attempt populations with regards to sociodemographic and clinical factors, life events, impulsivity and suicide intent.

We recruited completed suicides in the province of Seville and the recruitment of suicide attempters in two university hospitals in Madrid. In the first group, data were collected through close relatives, while the latter group were interviewed within 24 hours after the suicide attempt.

There were a higher proportion of males among the completed suicide compared to suicide attempter group. Suicide completers were also older, showed a lower impulsive trait and state, and had more suicide intent than attempters. Clinically, suicide completers had a higher prevalence of schizophrenia but a lower proportion of anxiety disorders than attempters. In Axis II, completers had a lower prevalence of Cluster A and Cluster C personality disorders. However, suicide completers were more likely to have a diagnosis of Narcissistic personality disorder compared to attempters. Family history of completed suicide was more frequent among suicide completers than among attempters.

There are significant differences with regards to demographic, clinical, and psychological characteristics, and life events between suicide completers and suicide attempters. They seem to be two distinct populations.