title: The Wessex Recent In-Patient Suicide Study, 2. Case-control study of 59 in-patient suicides.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Psychiatric patients have an elevated risk of suicide while in hospital.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare social, clinical and health-care delivery factors in in-patient and out-patient suicides and their controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective case-control study of 59 in-patients and 106 controls, matched for age, gender, diagnosis and admission date. Odds ratios were calculated using conditional multiple logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were seven independent increased-risk factors: history of deliberate self-harm, admission under the Mental Health Act, involvement of the police in admission, depressive symptoms, violence towards property, going absent without leave and a significant care professional being on leave. When compared with out-patient suicides, in-patients were more often female and male in-patients had a psychotic illness. Unlike the out-patient suicides, social factors were not found to be significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The characteristics of in-patient and out-patient suicides differ. Identified risk factors have relatively low sensitivity and specificity.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Group, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Southampton, Southampton, UK. eak@soton.ac.uk
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Baldwin
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002423:Cause of Death; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data