Meyfroidt N, Wyckaert S, Bouckaert F, Wampers M, Mazereel V, Bruffaerts R. Arch. Psychiatr. Nurs. 2020; 34(2): 8-13.
Affiliation
Universitair Psychiatrisch Centrum, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Center for Public Health Psychiatry, Dep. Neurosciences, KU Leuven. Electronic address: ronny.bruffaerts@kuleuven.be.
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.