Psychiatric hospitalizations during the last 12 months before suicide

Objectives: Suicide victims frequently have had contact with the mental health care system before they died. In this study, the rates, numbers and lengths of psychiatric hospitalizations of suicide victims during the last year before their suicide commission were assessed. Methods: The quarterly and monthly hospitalization rates during the last 12 months of 665 individuals who committed suicide were compared. Results: Of the suicide victims, 16.4% had been hospitalized at least once. The period after a recent discharge bore the highest risk for suicide commission, with 4.7% (28.4% of those hospitalized) committing suicide within I week after their discharge and 7.8% (47.7%) committing suicide within 1 month. Hospitalization rates were significantly higher in the last 3 months as compared with the preceding quarters. Conclusion: Increasing utilization of inpatient treatment facilities should prompt a particularly profound suicide risk assessment and postdischarge treatment planning. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.