The DOI matches its Crossref record; 16 of the 16 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Suicide within 12 months of contact with mental health services: national clinical survey
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical circumstances in which psychiatric patients commit suicide. DESIGN: National clinical survey. SETTING: England and Wales. SUBJECTS: A two year sample of people who had committed suicide, in particular those who had been in contact with mental health services in the 12 months before death. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportion of suicides in people who had had recent contact with mental health services; proportion of suicides in inpatients; proportion of people committing suicide and timing of suicide within three months of hospital discharge; proportion receiving high priority under the care programme approach; proportion who were recently non-compliant and not attending. RESULTS: 10 040 suicides were notified to the study between April 1996 and March 1998, of whom 2370 (24%; 95% confidence interval 23% to 24%) had had contact with mental health services in the year before death. Data were obtained on 2177, a response rate of 92%. In general these subjects had broad social and clinical needs. Alcohol and drug misuse were common. 358 (16%; 15% to 18%) were psychiatric inpatients at the time of death, 21% (17% to 25%) of whom were under special observation. Difficulties in observing patients because of ward design and nursing shortages were both reported in around a quarter of inpatient suicides. 519 (24%; 22% to 26%) suicides occurred within three months of hospital discharge, the highest number occurring in the first week after discharge. 914 (43%; 40% to 44%) were in the highest priority category for community care. 488 (26% excluding people whose compliance was unknown; 24% to 28%) were non-compliant with drug treatment while 486 (28%; 26% to 30%) community patients had lost contact with services. Most people who committed suicide were thought to have been at no or low immediate risk at the final service contact. Mental health teams believed suicide could have been prevented in 423 (22%; 20% to 24%) cases. CONCLUSIONS: Several suicide prevention measures in mental health services are implied by these findings, including measures to improve compliance and prevent loss of contact with services. Inpatient facilities should remove structural difficulties in observing patients and fixtures that can be used in hanging. Prevention of suicide after discharge may require earlier follow up in the community. Better suicide prevention in psychiatric patients is likely to need measures to improve the safety of mental health services as a whole, rather than specific measures for people known to be at high risk.
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“the suicide risk is particularly high when the patients were discharged from psychiatric hospitals where the average LOS is between 5 to 7 days (Appleby et al., 1999; Goldacre et al., 1993).”
From Time in treatment: Examining mental illness trajectories across inpatient psychiatric treatment (2020) · cites this paper as Appleby et al., 1999
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“Patients who are psychiatrically hospitalized for a suicide attempt or suicidal ideation (SI) are at very high risk for suicide following discharge [1 -3], with rates of suicide shortly postdischarge more than 100 times greater than the rate in the general population [4].”
From Feasibility and utility of positive psychology exercises for suicidal inpatients (2014) · cites this paper as [2]
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Citations
Cites
Suicide as an outcome for mental disorders: A meta-analysis
Harris, E. C., & Barraclough, B. (1997) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.170.3.205 · Cited by 2,589
Mental disorders and comorbidity in suicide
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Suicide after discharge from psychiatric inpatient care
Goldacre, M., Seagroatt, V, & Hawton, K. (1993) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/0140-6736(93)91822-4 · Cited by 380
(1998) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/s0165-0327(98)00033-0 · Cited by 324
National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness
Appleby, L., Shaw, J. J., & Amos, T. (1997) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.170.2.101 · Cited by 301
Risk Factors for Suicide in Psychiatric Patients
Roy, A. (1982) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1982.04290090071014 · Cited by 292
Appleby, L., Shaw, J. J., Sherratt, J., Amos, T., Robinson, J. J., & McDonnell, R. (1999) · Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) · Cited by 239
The Limitations of Official Suicide Statistics
O’Donnell, I., & Farmer, R. D. T. (1995) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.166.4.458 · Cited by 131
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- Hawton K, Appleby L, Platt S, Foster T, Cooper J, Malmberg A, et al. The psychological autopsy approach to studying suicide: a review of method- ological issues. J Affect Disord 1998;50:269-76.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Contact With Mental Health and Primary Care Providers Before Suicide: A Review of the Evidence
Luoma, J. B., Martin, C. E., & Pearson, J. L. (2002) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.159.6.909 · Cited by 1,576
Health care contacts in the year before suicide death.
Ahmedani, B. K., Simon, G. E., Stewart, C., Beck, A., Waitzfelder, B. E., Rossom, R., Lynch, F., Owen-Smith, A., Hunkeler, E. M., Whiteside, U., et al. (2014) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1007/s11606-014-2767-3 · Cited by 671
Suicide Risk in Relation to Psychiatric Hospitalization: Evidence Based on Longitudinal Registers
Qin, P., & Nordentoft, M. (2005) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.62.4.427 · Cited by 620
The European Psychiatric Association (EPA) guidance on suicide treatment and prevention
Wasserman, D., Ríhmer, Z., Rujescu, D., Sarchiapone, M., Sokolowski, M., Titelman, D., Zalsman, G., Zemishlany, Z., & Carli, V. (2011) · European Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2011.06.003 · Cited by 390
Weaver, T., Madden, P., Charles, V., Stimson, G., Renton, A., Tyrer, P., Barnes, T., Bench, C., Middleton, H., Wright, N., et al. (2003) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.183.4.304 · Cited by 386
Metadata
- Authors
- Appleby, L., Shaw, J., Amos, T., McDonnell, R., Harris, C., McCann, K., Kiernan, K., Davies, S., Bickley, H., & Parsons, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Manchester (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Appleby, L.
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 1999-05-08
- Volume
- 318
- Issue
- 7193
- Pages
- 1235-1239
- ISSN
- 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
- 0959-8138
- 1468-5833
- PMC
- PMC27859
- OpenAlex
- W2168287347
- Cited by
- 469
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 22
- FWCI
- 23.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychiatric care and mental health services
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
- Keywords
- Care Programme Approach, medication adherence, psychiatric inpatients, suicide prevention, post-discharge follow-up, alcohol and drug abuse, hanging
- MeSH terms
- Suicide Prevention, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cause of Death, Deinstitutionalization, England, Female, Health Surveys, Hospitalization, Humans, Male, Mental Health Services, Middle Aged, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Suicide, Time Factors, Wales, Survival Rate, Treatment Refusal
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