Suicide in mentally ill 'could be reduced'
Suicide in mentally ill 'could be reduced'
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Wednesday, 03, Feb 2010 12:20
By inthenews.co.uk
A significant reduction in the annual suicide rate could be achieved by preventing patients from leaving psychiatric wards without permission, a new study has found.
Researchers from the University of Manchester claim up to 50 suicide deaths could be prevented if action was taken.
The study by the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness noted the wards in which patients stay plays a major part in the number of people leaving and attempts should be made to improve staff awareness of those high risk groups.
Data was collected on 50,352 people who had died from suicide or unexplained causes in England and Wales from 1997 to 2006 and published in the journal BMC Psychiatry.
The figures showed that 13,331 suicides deaths were in people who have been involved in the mental health service in the year before their death and 14 per cent were from those who were current psychiatric patients.
However, the report also found that the number of deaths had dropped over the course of the study period from 221 in 1997 to 141 in 2006.
"Our findings have confirmed previous studies that a substantial proportion of in-patient suicide deaths occur after absconding from the ward," said Dr Isabelle Hunt, who led the research.
"Over the ten-year study period, while the number of in-patient suicide deaths declined, the proportion of these deaths which occurred among patients who had absconded remained unchanged at about 40 per cent."
According to the researchers, by improving conditions in the wards and providing more support and creating an environment that is less intimidating could lower numbers of deaths.
Tighter security on wards and closer observation of patients would also be beneficial, say researchers.
Dr Hunt added: "It is clearly a challenge to prevent patients leaving a general psychiatry open ward but our findings can inform staff of the clinical characteristics associated with absconding suicides, such as schizophrenia, substance misuse and non-compliance."