Year: 2004 Source: Psychiatric Services, v.55, no.7, (July 2004), p.821-823 SIEC No: 20051862

Information on all suicides over a period of 13 years in northern Finland as well as information from hospital registers were used to examine the interval between the last hospitalization & the suicide. On the basis of discharge diagnoses of physical or psychiatric illnesses, 3 groups were distinguished. Among victims with psychiatric disorders, survival time was shorter than among those without such a history, even if the last admission was for a physical condition. Clinicians should note the putative suicide risk among somatic patients at discharge, especially among those with a psychiatric history. (10 refs.)