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The Wessex Recent In-Patient Suicide Study, 2

Case—control study of 59 in-patient suicides

DAVID S. BALDWIN, MRCPsych and JULIA M. A. SINCLAIR, MRCPsych

Mental Health Group, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Southampton, Southampton

MICHAEL J. CAMPBELL, PhD

Institute of General Practice and Primary Care, School of Health and Related Research, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Correspondence: Dr Elizabeth A. King, Mental Health Group, University Department of Psychiatry, RSH Hospital, Brinton's Terrace, Southampton SO14 0YG, UK. E-mail:eak{at}soton.ac.uk

Declaration of interest This study was funded by the NHS South & West Research and Development Directorate.

See part 1, pp. 531–536, this issue.

Background Psychiatric patients have an elevated risk of suicide while in hospital.

Aims To compare social, clinical and health-care delivery factors in in-patient and out-patient suicides and their controls.

Method Retrospective case—control study of 59 in-patients and 106 controls, matched for age, gender, diagnosis and admission date. Odds ratios were calculated using conditional multiple logistic regression.

Results There were seven independent increased-risk factors: history of deliberate self-harm, admission under the Mental Health Act, involvement of the police in admission, depressive symptoms, violence towards property, going absent without leave and a significant care professional being on leave. When compared with out-patient suicides, in-patients were more often female and male in-patients had a psychotic illness. Unlike the out-patient suicides, social factors were not found to be significant.

Conclusions The characteristics of in-patient and out-patient suicides differ. Identified risk factors have relatively low sensitivity and specificity.

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Highlights of this issue

ELIZABETH WALSH
BJP 2001 178: 0. [Full Text]  

The Wessex Recent In-Patient Suicide Study, 1: Case—control study of 234 recently discharged psychiatricpatient suicides

ELIZABETH A. KING, DAVID S. BALDWIN, JULIA M. A. SINCLAIR, NIGEL G. BAKER, MICHAEL CAMPBELL, and CHRIS THOMPSON
BJP 2001 178: 531-536. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

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