Jailhouse Blues revisited

Background: Over the past decades a number of studies have appeared on suicide among persons in jail and prison remand settings, and sentenced prisoners. In these papers contradictory views concerning the relation between suicide risk and length of custody were published. Methods: This article reports on a study that investigated all suicides (n=206) in all 29 Austrian jails and prisons between 1975 and 1996. The authors demonstrate the necessity to calculate the hazard that reflects the suicide risk in relation to time. Results: The results suggest three different periods of high suicide risk: immediately after admission and 2 months thereafter for prisoners on remand; for long-term prisoners the suicide risk correlates with the length of the sentence and slightly increases with the time of custody. Conclusions: With this knowledge, suicide prevention programmes in prisons and jails could be made more effective and economic.