Psychiatric care of suicides in Hong Kong

Background: Though psychiatric patients have high suicidal risks, relatively little is known about the pattern of psychiatric care they received, especially in a non-Western setting. Methods: Territory-wide record linkage study of computerised psychiatric records of suicide cases according to coroner's verdicts. Results: Only 1/4 of the suicide population received psychiatric care in Hong Kong. These patient suicides differed from general population suicide in the distribution of sex, age, and suicide methods. Suicides are more common during the periods of in-patient care and immediately post discharge. Among these patient suicides, recent contacts with psychiatrists before their lethal acts were common. Limitations: Proportion of patients that received psychiatric care could be underestimates because private psychiatric patients and persons who immigrated were not counted. No clinical data are available from the record linkage. Conclusions: A wider coverage of psychiatric care to the suicidal population is required through improved accessibility and public health education. A smooth transition of care after discharge, active case tracing, and improved in-patient care should be considered. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.