Exploring the Objective Signs of Imminent Suicide Risk in Psychiatric In-patients

This study retrospectively explores the objective signs of imminent suicide risk in psychiatric in-patients.

The study analysed the diagnostic and nursing records of a psychiatric hospital that covered the last 14 days before the suicide attempts of 18 people, who, between March 2008 and July 2019, were found to have died by suicide during their hospital stay.

Three professionals used a fishbone diagram to separately identify the factors that led to each person's suicide, the objective signs that indicated imminent suicide risk, possible preventive strategies, and other observations. They compared their findings and used the KJ method (Kawakita Jiro Method) to categorise the items on which they all agreed.

Objective signs of imminent suicide risk were condensed into five categories: 'signs emanating from the patient', 'signs gleaned through engagement', 'signs from response to treatment', 'signs associated with reports from the family', and 'signs inferred from multiple sources of information'. Five categories describing issues with the way in which the hospital staff handled information were extracted, namely 'omission in diagnostic records during admission', 'omission in conference records', 'communication lapse during transfer', 'need for integrated information', and 'systemic issues'.

The findings offer insights on assessing suicide risk and preventing suicide.