[Mortality risk of psychiatric patients in inpatient acute treatment]

Our report deals with a study of seven psychiatric hospitals located in Baden-Württemberg each with defined catchment areas. Within 2 1/2 years, 14,195 episodes of treatment in acute psychiatric wards were recorded. 196 patients died while in hospital, of which 174 died of natural causes and 22 committed suicide. Mortality by age and diagnosis was compared with the expected number of deaths in the general population. The greatest number of deaths were found to be in the patient group with organic mental disorder (relative risk 7.55). Whereas the relative risk of patients with functional psychoses was found to be 4.55, the relative risk of those with "other illnesses" was 3.25. About 50% of the deaths were caused by cardiovascular affections and pneumonia. In the group of patients with functional psychiatric disorder, the main cause of death was suicide. The results of our study show that the mentally ill are at a higher risk of dying while undergoing treatment in an acute hospital. Although the causes of excess mortality of psychiatric patients have not been completely elucidated as yet, a major aim should be to improve medical care as well as suicide prevention in our psychiatric hospitals.