TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2006//
TI  - Suicide in mental health in-patients and within 3 months of discharge: National clinical survey
JO  - British journal of psychiatry
A1  - Meehan, Janet
A1  - Kapur, Navneet
A1  - Hunt, Isabelle M.
A1  - Turnbull, Pauline
A1  - Robinson, Jeff
A1  - Bickley, Harriet
A1  - Parsons, Rebecca
A1  - Flynn, Sandra Marie
A1  - Burns, J.
A1  - Amos, T.
A1  - Shaw, Jon
A1  - Appleby, Louis
SP  - 129
EP  - 134
VL  - 188
IS  - 
N2  - BACKGROUND: Suicide prevention is a health service priority. Suicide risk may be greatest during psychiatric in-patient admission and following discharge. AIMS: To describe the social and clinical characteristics of a comprehensive sample of in-patient and post-discharge cases of suicide. METHOD: A national clinical survey based on a 4-year (1996-2000) sample of cases of suicide in England and Wales who had been in recent contact with mental health services (n=4859). RESULTS: There were 754 (16%) current in-patients and a further 1100 (23%) had been discharged from psychiatric in-patient care less than 3 months before death. Nearly a quarter of the in-patient deaths occurred within the first 7 days of admission; 236 (31%) occurred on the ward, the majority by hanging. Post-discharge suicide was most frequent in the first 2 weeks after leaving hospital; the highest number occurred on the first day. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide might be prevented among in-patients by improving ward design and removing fixtures that can be used in hanging. Prevention of suicide after discharge requires early community follow-up and closer supervision of high-risk patients.
LA  - 
SN  - 0007-1250
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.188.2.129
ID  - ref1
ER  -