Suicide in psychiatric inpatients- a case-control study
Open accessAbstract
Objective: Psychiatric inpatients constitute a population at considerably increased risk for suicide. Identifying those at imminent risk is still a challenging task for hospital staff. This retrospective case–control study focused on clinical risk factors related to the course of the hospital stay. Method: Inpatient suicide cases were identified by linking the Tyrol Suicide Register with the registers of three psychiatric hospitals in the state. Control subjects were patients who had also been hospitalized in the respective psychiatric unit but had not died by suicide. Matching variables included sex, age, hospital, diagnosis, and admission date. The study period comprised 7 years. Data were analyzed by the appropriate two-sample tests and by logistic regression. Results: A total of 30 inpatient suicide cases and 54 control patients were included. A number of factors differentiated cases from controls; after correction for multiple testing, the following retained significance: history of aborted suicide, history of attempted suicide, history of any suicidal behavior/threats, suicidal ideation continuing during hospitalization, no development of prospective plans, no improvement of mood during the hospital stay, and leaving ward without giving notice. Logistic regression identified the latter three variables and history of attempted suicide as highly significant predictors of inpatient suicide. Conclusions: Preventive measures during hospitalization include thorough assessment of suicidal features, an emphasis on the development of future perspectives, and a review of hospital regulations for patients who want to leave the ward.
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In Deisenhammer et al. study, those who died by suicide during hospitalization more regularly showed no improvement in mood at discharge.
“and more regularly showed no improvement in mood at discharge”
From High depression symptomatology and mental pain characterize suicidal psychiatric patients (2022) · cites this paper as [38]
In Deisenhammer et al. study, those who died by suicide during hospitalization more frequently had an increased history of attempted suicide.
“In Deisenhammer et al. [38] study, those who died by suicide during hospitalization more frequently had an increased history of attempted suicide”
From High depression symptomatology and mental pain characterize suicidal psychiatric patients (2022) · cites this paper as [38]
In Deisenhammer et al. study, those who died by suicide during hospitalization less often reported future plans.
“they less often reported future plans”
From High depression symptomatology and mental pain characterize suicidal psychiatric patients (2022) · cites this paper as [38]
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- Authors
- Deisenhammer, E. A., Behrndt-Bauer, E.-M., Kemmler, G., Haring, C., & Miller, C.
- Affiliations
- Innsbruck Medical University (AT)
- Corresponding author
- Deisenhammer, Eberhard A.
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2020-12-21
- Volume
- 11
- Pages
- 591460-591460
- ISSN
- 1664-0640 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7779474
- OpenAlex
- W3115154372
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 0.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- 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
- inpatient suicide, psychiatric inpatients, suicide risk factors, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, suicidal behavior, mood improvement, suicide prevention
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