Community Mental-Health Services and Suicide Rate in Finland: a Nationwide Small-Area Analysis

The reform of psychiatric services in Finland was investigated by assessing the relations between suicide risk & different ways of organising mental health services. A nationwide comprehensive survey of adult mental health service units was done between September 2004-March 2005. For each of 428 municipalities, age-adjusted & gender-adjusted suicide risk was measured, pooled between 2000-2004, & then adjusted for register-derived socioeconomic factors. A wide variety of outpatient services, prominence of outpatient versus inpatient services, & 24-hour emergency services were associated with decreased suicide rates. However, after adjustment for socioeconomic factors, only the prominence of outpatient services was associated with low suicide rate. (31 refs.) JA