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Author(s): Muhammad Nair*
Suicide is an adverse event that can occur even
when patient are hospitalized in psychiatric facilities.
This study delineates the demographic characteristics
of suicide attempts in mental hospitals and
psychiatric wards of general hospitals in Japan, a
country where the suicide rate is remarkably high.
Analyses of incident reports on serious suicide attempts
in psychiatric inpatients were performed
using prefectural incident records between April 1,
2001, and December31, 2012. Suicide reports were
included for 35 incidents that occurred over 11years,
and demonstrated that 83% of patients (n=29) committed
suicide and 17% (n=6) survived their attempt
with serious aftereffects, such as cognitive impairment
or persistent vegetative state. The male/female
ratio of inpatient suicide was 1.5:1. The mean age of
the attempters was 50.5 years (SD = 18.2). The most
common psychiatric diagnoses for those with suicide
incident reports were schizophrenia spectrum disorders
(51.4%) and affective disorders (40%). Hanging
(60%) was the most common method of suicide
attempt, followed by jumping in front of moving
objects (14.3%) and jumping from height (11.4%).
Fifty-four percent of suicides (n=19) occurred within
hospital sites and the remainder (46%; n=16) occurred
outside hospital sites (e.g., on medical leave
or elopement) while they were still inpatients.
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