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Suicide among psychiatric hospital in-patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Alec Roy  and
Ronald Draper
Alec Roy*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey—New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA; Brockville Psychiatric Hospital, Brockville, Ontario, Canada
Ronald Draper
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey—New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA; Brockville Psychiatric Hospital, Brockville, Ontario, Canada
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Alec Roy, Veterans' Affairs Medical Center, Psychiatry Service, 116A, 385 Tremont Avenue, East Orange, New Jersey, 07018–1095, USA.
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Synopsis

We examined for risk factors for suicide among psychiatric in-patients by comparing 37 in-patients from an Ontario Provincial Psychiatric Hospital who had committed suicide with 37 age and sex matched in-patient controls. Significantly more of the suicide victims had made a previous suicide attempt (62·2 v. 35·1%), suffered from schizophrenia (75·7 v. 35·1%), were involuntary at their last admission (70·3 v. 43·2%) and lived alone (70·3 v. 43·2%). Only six patients committed suicide on the ward. Almost a third of the patients, the majority schizophrenic, committed suicide after having been in the hospital for more than a year. These results suggest that in the psychiatric hospital setting the in-patient at risk for suicide has previously exhibited suicidal behaviour, suffers from schizophrenia, was admitted involuntarily, lives alone and that the risk of suicide may remain high among long-stay schizophrenics.

Type
Brief Report
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , January 1995 , pp. 199 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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