1. Attendance at the accident and emergency department in the year before suicide: retrospective study.
- Author
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Gairin, Isaur A., House, Allan, Owens, David, and Gairin, Isaura
- Subjects
PSYCHIATRIC research ,SUICIDE prevention ,MENTAL health services ,EMERGENCY medical services ,CAUSES of death ,DRUG overdose ,SELF-poisoning ,ATTEMPTED suicide ,HOSPITAL emergency services ,MEDICAL emergencies ,SELF-injurious behavior ,SUICIDE ,RELATIVE medical risk ,RETROSPECTIVE studies ,PATIENTS' attitudes ,PSYCHOLOGICAL factors ,THERAPEUTICS - Abstract
Background: The National Confidential Inquiry into suicides in England and Wales found that a quarter of suicides are preceded by mental health service contact in the year before death. However, visits to accident and emergency departments due to self-harm may not lead to a record of mental health service contact. Aims To determine the proportion of suicides preceded by accident and emergency attendance in the previous year.Method: We obtained the list of probable suicides in Leeds for a 38-month period, and examined the records from the city's accident and emergency departments for a year before each death.Results: Eighty-five (39%) of the 219 people who later died by suicide had attended an accident and emergency department in the year before death, 15% because of non-fatal self-harm. Final visits due to self-harm were often shortly before suicide (median 38 days), but the National Confidential Inquiry recorded about a fifth of them as 'not in contact' with local mental health services.Conclusions: Although many suicides are preceded by recent attendance at accident and emergency departments due to non-fatal self-harm, local mental health service records may show no recent contact. Suicide prevention might be enhanced were accident and emergency departments and mental health services to work together more closely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2003
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