Healio (9/21, Oldt) reports that patients “with mental health disorders had increased risk for suicide three months after discharge from a psychiatric hospital, particularly those who did not receive outpatient health care six months before hospital admission,” researchers found after evaluating “national retrospective longitudinal cohort of inpatients in the Medicaid program who were discharged with a first-listed diagnosis of depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, substance use disorder and other mental disorder (n = 770,643).”
Also included in the analysis was “a 10% random sample of inpatient adults diagnosed with nonmental disorders (n = 1,090,551).” The findings were published online Sept. 21 in JAMA Psychiatry.
Psychiatric News (9/21) reports the authors of an accompanying editorial emphasized how “very important” it is “to carefully plan and initiate referrals for aftercare.” Under ideal circumstances, “outpatient treatment should be introduced before discharge, so that the patient is familiar with the persons who will care for them after discharge,” the editorialists wrote.
Related Links:
— “Psychiatric inpatients have high risk for suicide after hospital discharge,” Amanda Oldt, Healio, September 21, 2016.