Jonathon LaValley, BS¹, Lynne Fullerton-Gleason, PhD², and G. Thomas Shires, MD². (1) Department of Emergency Medicine, University of New Mexico, MSC10 5560, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, (505) 272-8670, jlavalley@salud.unm.edu, (2) Trauma Institute, University of Nevada School of Medicine, 2040 W. Charleston Blvd, Suite 501, Las Vegas, NV 89102

Purpose: We compared characteristics of patients who ultimately die from suicide to those who do not die from suicide among patients admitted to Nevada hospitals.

Methods: Nevada Vital Statistics and Hospital Inpatient Discharge databases were linked by unique identifiers. Inclusion criteria: admitted at least once for suicide in 1995-1999. Suicide fatality was defined as anyone who immediately or later died of suicide in 1995-2000.

Results: Among 2,395 patients admitted for suicide, 286 died of suicide before 2001. Prior admission characteristics were available for 759 patients of these patients, including 67 individuals who died from suicide.

Suicide fatality rate was higher among persons with >1 admission for suicide attempt than persons with 1 admission for suicide attempt (39% vs. 11%;OR=5.3,95%CI=3.4,8.2). Neither age nor sex was associated with suicide death. Prior admitting diagnosis for non-suicidal poisoning was associated with a high probability of suicide death (41% vs. 15%;OR=4.1;95%CI=2.1,8.2). Other pre-suicide event admitting diagnoses that were disproportionately associated with suicide fatality included: alcohol dependence (32% vs. 15%; OR=3.2;95%CI=1.1,9.5), drug related problems excluding overdose (31% vs. 15%;OR=2.18;95%CI=1.6,4.7), affective psychosis, acute/chronic alcohol poisoning, complicated childbirth, and anti-depressant poisoning. Admitting diagnoses differed significantly by patient age.

Time between admits was significantly less for suicide decedents (128 days+/- SE*23.1 days) than suicide attempters (685 days+/-SE*54.1 days;p<0.0001).

Conclusions: Characteristics of previous hospital admissions can be used to predict patients most at risk of suicide death. Hospital policies concerning treatment, referral, and discharge should be scrutinized to ensure that suicidal patients at most risk are triaged accordingly.

Learning Objectives:

• describe hospitalization patterns which predict lethal suicide outcomes
• describe patient characteristics among lethal and non-lethal suicide hospitalizations
• understand hospitalization patterns of suicide attemptors

Keywords: Suicide, Mortality

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.