Citation

Sharma V, Persad E, Kueneman K. J. Affect. Disord. 1998; 47(1-3): 123-129.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London Psychiatric Hospital, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9476752

Abstract

BACKGROUND: We examined the risk factors for suicide among inpatients in an Ontario provincial psychiatric hospital. METHODS: Forty-four inpatients who had committed suicide during their hospital stay from 1969 to 1995 were compared with a group of inpatient controls matched for sex, age and date of admission. The diagnosis for each patient was reviewed by the authors. RESULTS: Suicide victims were more likely to have had a mood disorder, family history of psychiatric problems, mention of suicide risk in chart notes and a previous suicide attempt. Two findings necessitated further scrutiny: The most common diagnosis among inpatients who committed suicide in this study was a mood disorder and not schizophrenia as previously reported. A large proportion of patients (24) had experienced a rapidly fluctuating clinical course prior to the time of suicide. CONCLUSIONS: The implications of these findings, including the possible role of antidepressants in the induction of cycling prior to suicide, are discussed.

Language: en