Highlights
- •68% of the inpatient suicides was diagnosed with a mood disorder.
- •First weeks of admission are a significant risk factor for suicide.
- •There is a direct association between hopelessness and inpatient suicide.
Abstract
Background and objectives
Patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital show an increased risk for suicide but
specific risk factors are not well understood.
Methods
In this case-control study we describe suicides (n = 37) that took place during admission in a Flemish psychiatric teaching hospital
between 2007 and 2015 and investigate predictive factors for suicide.
Results
Inpatient suicide is a rare condition (37 patients among 20,442 admission periods
between 2007 and 2015). Most inpatients who completed suicide were diagnosed with
a mood disorder (68%); 38% committed suicide in the first month of hospitalization
and 19% in the first week following admission. The majority of suicides took place
just before or during the weekend (57%), with hanging as the prominent method (41%). Multivariate analysis
showed that hopelessness was the only significant risk factor for inpatient suicide.
Conclusions
Inpatient suicide remains a very rare event in inpatient care. Enquiring and managing
hopelessness is essential in inpatient treatment of psychiatric patients.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 12, 2019
Accepted:
December 12,
2019
Received in revised form:
November 14,
2019
Received:
May 27,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
