Twenty-two suicides were identified in a series of 5,284 psychiatric
emergency room patients, yielding a suicide rate of 111.1 per 100,000
"patient-years at risk"--more than seven times the age- and sex- adjusted
rate for the general population. Subpopulations at high risk were white
people, men, depressed and schizophrenic patients, substance abusers, and
patients with multiple emergency room visits. No patients had killed
themselves immediately after an emergency room visit, but several had
killed themselves without following through on a referral from the
emergency room to another facility for treatment. The authors discuss the
implications of these findings for emergency room practice and for further
research.Abstract Teaser