Based upon a psychiatric basic documentation system, prevalence & risk factors for in-patient suicides, suicide attempts, & suicide ideation were investigated over an 11-year period, 1989-1999. A total of 30 in-patient suicides were identified among 21,062 German patients. According to the multivariate logistic regression analysis, the risk of hospital suicide increases for patients with schizophrenia, higher cumulative length of stay, previous suicide attempt, part-time employment, & training/retraining. Predictors of suicide attempt during hospitalization are suicide attempt on admission, personality disorder, suicide ideation on admission, schizophrenia, & affective disorder. More frequent risk assessment is recommended, particularly before granting a leave or an outing. (30 refs.)