Persons discharged from inpatient psychiatric services are at greatly elevated risk of harming themselves or inflicting violence on others, but no studies have reported gender-specific absolute risks for these two outcomes across the spectrum of psychiatric diagnoses. We aimed to estimate absolute risks for self-harm and interpersonal violence post-discharge according to gender and diagnostic category.

Danish national registry data were utilized to investigate 62,922 discharged inpatients, born 1967–2000. An age and gender matched cohort study was conducted to examine risks for self-harm and interpersonal violence at 1 year and at 10 years post-discharge. Absolute risks were estimated as cumulative incidence percentage values.

Patients diagnosed with substance misuse disorders were at especially elevated risk, with the absolute risks for either self-harm or interpersonal violence being 15.6% (95% CI 14.9, 16.3%) of males and 16.8% (15.6, 18.1%) of females at 1 year post-discharge, rising to 45.7% (44.5, 46.8%) and 39.0% (37.1, 40.8%), respectively, within 10 years. Diagnoses of personality disorders and early onset behavioral and emotional disorders were also associated with particularly high absolute risks, whilst risks linked with schizophrenia and related disorders, mood disorders, and anxiety/somatoform disorders, were considerably lower.

Patients diagnosed with substance misuse disorders, personality disorders and early onset behavioral and emotional disorders are at especially high risk for internally and externally directed violence. It is crucial, however, that these already marginalized individuals are not further stigmatized. Enhanced care at discharge and during the challenging transition back to life in the community is needed.

People diagnosed with a severe mental illness (SMI) are at elevated risk of dying prematurely compared to the general population. We aimed to understand the additional risk among people with SMI after discharge from inpatient psychiatric care, when many patients experience an acute phase of their illness.

In the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) GOLD and Aurum datasets, adults aged 18 years and older who were discharged from psychiatric inpatient care in England between 2001 and 2018 with primary diagnoses of SMI (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, other psychoses) were matched by age and gender with up to five individuals with SMI and without recent hospital stays. Using survival analysis approaches, cumulative incidence and adjusted hazard ratios were estimated for all-cause mortality, external and natural causes of death, and suicide. All analyses were stratified by younger, middle and older ages and also by gender.

In the year after their discharge, the risk of dying by all causes examined was higher than among individuals with SMI who had not received inpatient psychiatric care recently. Suicide risk was 11.6 times (95% CI 6.4–20.9) higher in the first 3 months and remained greater at 2–5 years after discharge (HR 2.3, 1.7–3.2). This risk elevation remained after adjustment for self-harm in the 6 months prior to the discharge date. The relative risk of dying by natural causes was raised in the first 3 months (HR 1.6, 1.3–1.9), with no evidence of elevation during the second year following discharge.

There is an additional risk of death by suicide and natural causes for people with SMI who have been recently discharged from inpatient care over and above the general risk among people with the same diagnosis who have not recently been treated as an inpatient. This mortality gap shows the importance of continued focus, following discharge, on individuals who require inpatient care.

Evidence for risk of dying by suicide and other causes following discharge from in-patient psychiatric care throughout adulthood is sparse.

To estimate risks of all-cause mortality, natural and external-cause deaths, suicide and accidental, alcohol-specific and drug-related deaths in working-age and older adults within a year post-discharge.

Using interlinked general practice, hospital, and mortality records in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink we delineated a cohort of discharged adults in England, 2001–2018. Each patient was matched to up to 20 general population comparator patients. Cumulative incidence (absolute risks) and hazard ratios (relative risks) were estimated separately for ages 18–64 and ≥65 years with additional stratification by gender and practice-level deprivation.

The 1-year cumulative incidence of dying post-discharge was 2.1% among working-age adults (95% CI 2.0–2.3) and 14.1% (95% CI 13.6–14.5) among older adults. Suicide risk was particularly elevated in the first 3 months, with hazard ratios of 191.1 (95% CI 125.0–292.0) among working-age adults and 125.4 (95% CI 52.6–298.9) in older adults. Older patients were vulnerable to dying by natural causes within 3 months post-discharge. Risk of dying by external causes was greater among discharged working-age adults in the least deprived areas. Relative risk of suicide in discharged working-age women relative to their general population peers was double the equivalent male risk elevation.

Recently discharged adults at any age are at increased risk of dying from external and natural causes, indicating the importance of close monitoring and provision of optimal support to all such patients, particularly during the first 3 months post-discharge.

NICE guidelines advise to consider admission for patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) for the management of crises involving significant risk to self or others. Furthermore, to consider structured psychological interventions of greater than three months’ duration and twice-weekly sessions according to patients’ needs and wishes.

We aimed to assess reasons for admission and access to psychological interventions in an acute inpatient BPD population.

Case notes of patients with a diagnosis of BPD (ICD-10 F60.3 and F60.31), discharged from four acute general adult wards in Sheffield during a period of twelve months were studied retrospectively, using a structured questionnaire based on BPD NICE guidance.

Of the 83 identified BPD patients, seventy-eight percent were female and 82% between 16–45 years old. Eleven patients had four or more admissions. Eighty percent reported suicidal ideation at admission, with 50% having acted on it (70% by overdose, 50% cutting, 10% hanging). Of this cohort, 58% reported they intended to die. Psychosocial factors at admission were identified in 59 cases, including relationship breakdown (47.5%), alcohol/drug use (30.5%) and accommodation issues (17%). Disturbed/aggressive behaviour was documented in 27.1% of these cases. Sixty-eight percent of patients had psychology input in the 5 years preadmission: 38% (21 patients) received structured therapy, whilst 62% received only one assessment or advise to teams.

Patients were mainly admitted for risk management. A high proportion received unstructured psychological interventions. Services offering structured psychological interventions should be supported, as hospitalisations only temporarily address BPD patients’ suicidality and psychosocial difficulties.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Fatigue syndromes (FSs) affect large numbers of individuals, yet evidence from epidemiological studies on adverse outcomes, such as premature death, is limited.

Cohort study involving 385 general practices in England that contributed to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) with linked inpatient Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) and Office for National Statistics (ONS) cause of death information. A total of 10 477 patients aged 15 years and above, diagnosed with a FS during 2000–2014, were individually matched with up to 20 comparator patients without a history of having a FS. Prevalence ratios (PRs) were estimated to compare the FS and comparison cohorts on clinical characteristics. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for subsequent adverse outcomes were estimated from stratified Cox regression models.

Among patients diagnosed with FSs, we found elevated baseline prevalence of: any psychiatric illness (PR 1.77; 95% CI 1.72–1.82), anxiety disorders (PR 1.92; 1.85–1.99), depression (PR 1.89; 1.83–1.96), psychotropic prescriptions (PR 1.68; 1.64–1.72) and comorbid physical illness (PR 1.28; 1.23–1.32). We found no significant differences in risks for: all-cause mortality (HR 0.99; 0.91–1.09), natural death (HR 0.99; 0.90–1.09), unnatural death (HR 1.00; 0.59–1.72) or suicide (HR 1.68; 0.78–3.63). We did, however, observe a significantly elevated non-fatal self-harm risk: HR 1.83; 1.56–2.15.

The absence of elevated premature mortality risk is reassuring. The raised prevalence of mental illness and increased non-fatal self-harm risk indicate a need for enhanced assessment and management of psychopathology associated with fatigue syndromes.

Little is known about the precursors of suicide risk among primary-care patients. This study aimed to examine suicide risk in relation to patterns of clinical consultation, psychotropic drug prescribing, and psychiatric diagnoses.

Nested case-control study in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), England. Patients aged ⩾16 years who died by suicide during 2002–2011 (N = 2384) were matched on gender, age and practice with up to 20 living control patients (N = 46 899).

Risk was raised among non-consulting patients, and increased sharply with rising number of consultations in the preceding year [⩾12 consultations v. 1: unadjusted odds ratio (OR) 6.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.9–7.3]. Markedly elevated risk was also associated with the prescribing of multiple psychotropic medication types (⩾5 types v. 0: OR 62.6, CI 44.3–88.4) and with having several psychiatric diagnoses (⩾4 diagnoses v. 0: OR 31.1, CI 19.3–50.1). Risk was also raised among patients living in more socially deprived localities. The confounding effect of multiple psychotropic drug types largely accounted for the rising risk gradient observed with increasing consultation frequency.

A greater proportion of patients with several psychiatric diagnoses, those prescribed multiple psychotropic medication types, and those who consult at very high frequency might be considered for referral to mental health services by their general practitioners. Non-consulters are also at increased risk, which suggests that conventional models of primary care may not be effective in meeting the needs of all people in the community experiencing major psychosocial difficulties.

Childhood maltreatment and a family history of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) are each associated with social-emotional dysfunction in childhood. Both are also strong risk factors for adult SSDs, and social-emotional dysfunction in childhood may be an antecedent of these disorders. We used data from a large Australian population cohort to determine the independent and moderating effects of maltreatment and parental SSDs on early childhood social-emotional functioning.

The New South Wales Child Development Study combines intergenerational multi-agency data using record linkage methods. Multiple measures of social-emotional functioning (social competency, prosocial/helping behaviour, anxious/fearful behaviour; aggressive behaviour, and hyperactivity/inattention) on 69 116 kindergarten children (age ~5 years) were linked with government records of child maltreatment and parental presentations to health services for SSD. Multivariable analyses investigated the association between maltreatment and social-emotional functioning, adjusting for demographic variables and parental SSD history, in the population sample and in sub-cohorts exposed and not exposed to parental SSD history. We also examined the association of parental SSD history and social-emotional functioning, adjusting for demographic variables and maltreatment.

Medium-sized associations were identified between maltreatment and poor social competency, aggressive behaviour and hyperactivity/inattention; small associations were revealed between maltreatment and poor prosocial/helping and anxious/fearful behaviours. These associations did not differ greatly when adjusted for parental SSD, and were greater in magnitude among children with no history of parental SSD. Small associations between parental SSD and poor social-emotional functioning remained after adjusting for demographic variables and maltreatment.

Childhood maltreatment and history of parental SSD are associated independently with poor early childhood social-emotional functioning, with the impact of exposure to maltreatment on social-emotional functioning in early childhood of greater magnitude than that observed for parental SSDs. The impact of maltreatment was reduced in the context of parental SSDs. The influence of parental SSDs on later outcomes of maltreated children may become more apparent during adolescence and young adulthood when overt symptoms of SSD are likely to emerge. Early intervention to strengthen childhood social-emotional functioning might mitigate the impact of maltreatment, and potentially also avert future psychopathology.