Suicide among psychiatric in-patients in the Wellington region

To identify risk factors for in-patient suicide, a case-control study of in-patient suicide was conducted in the Wellington Area Health Board region between 1984 and 1989 on 27 cases and 86 controls. The risk of in-patient suicide was increased among individuals who had been compulsorily admitted, suffered from schizophrenia, had a past history of deliberate self harm, had been in hospital for more than a month, or were unmarried. Notably, there was no relationship with physical health, a history of substance abuse, number of psychiatric admissions and time since the last known episode of deliberate self harm. These characteristics can assist clinical assessment of individual suicidal risk. Further evaluation of the relation of compulsory admission to suicide is required.