The increase of suicides in psychiatric hospitals in southwestern Germany according to diagnostic subgroups.
In this paper, results are shown of a study on suicides committed by psychiatric inpatients in four state mental hospitals in Baden-Württemberg, Federal Republic of Germany during the 15 years from January 1, 1970 up to the end of 1984. There was a mean suicide rate of 195 per 100,000 admissions. A comparison of 5-year sequences showed a significant increase of so-called hospital suicides in two of the hospitals at the end of the seventies and the beginning of the eighties. A statistical analysis of a trend of increase using nonparametric methods (Spearman rho, Kendall tau) showed a significant increase in the number of suicides and suicide rates in all four hospitals. In a second step, the same statistical procedure testing for an increase in the fifteen years was used for the group of schizophrenic (N = 106) and depressed (N = 55) inpatients who committed suicide. An impressive and highly significant increase was found especially in schizophrenic male inpatients with the ICD-9 diagnosis 295.3 (paranoid-schizophrenia), and within that group, in inpatients with 3 or more inpatient treatments. There was also an increase in the depressed group, especially in female depressives, but only significant at the 5% level in the trend analysis.
Wolfersdorf
M
M
Department of Psychiatry I, University of Ulm, Germany.
Vogel
R
R
Keller
F
F
Hole
G
G
D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*