Citation

Hoffmann EHA, Massing P, Veit F, Dettmeyer R, Birngruber CG. Rechtsmedizin 2022; 32(2): 84-90.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00194-022-00554-4

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Deaths during inpatient psychiatric treatment are much less common than in nonpsychiatric clinics. In this study 44 autopsy cases in the Institute of Legal Medicine in Giessen of patients who died in an inpatient psychiatric hospital over a period of 7 years were collected and evaluated. This study showed that almost half of the deceased died of an unnatural death. Affective disorders, schizophrenia and psychosis were frequent underlying illnesses of the deceased and the reason for a suicide. During the assessment it was found that in individual cases a detailed documentation was missing from the medical records. In order to investigate deaths in the inpatient area of psychiatry, complete documentation of the patient's stay as well as an autopsy with further toxicological examinations are indispensable. © 2022, The Author(s).

Language: de

Keywords

Prevention; human; suicide; Suicide; schizophrenia; psychosis; mood disorder; Documentation; toxicology; death; human tissue; medical record; hospital patient; mental hospital; medical documentation; Article; Nonnatural death; Physical restraint