TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2006//
TI  - Suicide in psychiatric in-patients in England, 1997 to 2003
JO  - Psychiatria Danubina
A1  - Kapur, Navneet
A1  - Hunt, Isabelle M.
A1  - Webb, Roger
A1  - Bickley, Harriet
A1  - Windfuhr, Kirsten
A1  - Shaw, Jon
A1  - Appleby, Louis
SP  - 44
EP  - 45
VL  - 18
IS  - Suppl 1
N2  - Psychiatric in-patients are at particularly high risk of suicide but few studies have investigated trends in in-patient suicide over time. Aim: To examine trends in the rate of suicide by psychiatric in-patients and those recently discharged from in-patient care. Methods; A prospective descriptive study of all patients admitted to psychiatric care in England (1997-2003) as part of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide. Results: Between 1997 and 2003 the annual number of in-patient deaths from suicide fell from 200 to 161 (19.5% reduction). The corresponding fall in the rate of in-patient suicide was 2.22 to 1.22 per 100,000 bed days (45% reduction, p<0.001). This fall was observed across gender and age categories and for all common methods of suicide. The rate of post-discharge suicide increased by 15%. The rate of in-patient suicide in England has fallen. This fall has occurred at a time of fewer beds and a more severely ill in-patient population. The fall is unlikely to simply reflect falling general population rates. It could be a result of service improvements or a transfer of risk to the post-discharge period. Services should be aware of the importance of providing high quality aftercare following hospital discharge.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0353-5053
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -