Inpatient suicide in a general hospital

This study aimed to compare the characteristics of psychiatric and nonpsychiatric suicidal inpatients in one general hospital and examine the predictors of completed suicide in the patients with suicidal acts during hospitalization.

One hundred ten study subjects were identified by the adverse event reports of suicidal acts during hospitalization from 1995 to 2004. Demographic data and clinical information were collected by chart reviews.

Psychiatric inpatients with suicidal acts were mainly younger females with psychiatric diagnoses and previous suicide attempts. Nonpsychiatric suicidal inpatients had less suicide communication, performed suicidal acts more rapidly after admission and used more violent suicidal methods than the psychiatric inpatients did. Suicidal acts performed outside the hospital, use of violent suicidal methods and male gender increased the risk of suicide mortality in our suicidal inpatients.

This study suggests that suicide prevention efforts need to be tailored in psychiatric and nonpsychiatric wards according to differing patient risk characteristics in these patient cohorts.