Abstract
Background: Recent United Kingdom strategies focus on preventable suicide deaths in former psychiatric in-patients, but natural causes of death, accidents and homicide may also be important. This study was intended to find the relative importance of natural and unnatural causes of death in people discharged from long-term psychiatric care in Scotland in 1977 - 1994.
Methods: People discharged alive from psychiatric hospitals in Scotland in 1977 - 94 after a stay of one year or longer were identified using routine hospital records. Computer record linkage was used to link hospital discharges to subsequent death records. Mortality was described using a person-years analysis, and compared to the general population rates.
Results: 6,776 people were discharged in the time period. 1,994 people (29%) died by the end of follow-up, 732 more deaths than expected. Deaths from suicide, homicide, accident and undetermined cause were increased, but accounted for only 197 of the excess deaths. Deaths from respiratory disease were four times higher than expected, and deaths from other causes, including cardiovascular disease, were also elevated.
Conclusion: Suicide is an important cause of preventable mortality, but natural causes account for more excess deaths. Prevention activities should not focus only on unnatural causes of death.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 30 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | BMC Public Health |
| Volume | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 9 Sept 2003 |
Keywords
- excess mortality
- schizophrenic-patients
- antipsychotic-drugs
- mental-disorders
- population
- Nithsdale
- suicide
- people
- death
Access to Document
- Mortality after discharge
© 2003 Stark et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the article's original URL. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/3/30