Appropriate care for suicide attempters(SA)is important for preventing re-attempt. Most of previous researches on SA come from emergency and critical care centers, and few data are from secondary emergency institutions (SEI)or psychiatric hospitals(PH). Since medical staff tend to avoid SA, their suicidal intent(SI)or past attempts is frequently neglected. We therefore examined 63 SA records in 11 SEI and 15 in PH in an area for six months, to compare the prevalence of cases whose SI was assessed by nurse between SEI and PH, and also to know the correlates with SI assessment. Two thirds of SA in SEI were the patients of other PH or clinics. SA in PH were physically mild, and appeared to visit their attending psychiatrists at daytime after their conditions got better. For 89 % in PH and 53 % in SEI, their SI was assessed. In SEI, SI assessment was correlated with being young, nighttime reception, less fatal means of attempts, and going home after examination. Past suicide attempts were not asked even among SA whose SI were assessed. These findings indicate the need for developing tools assisting systematic assessment for suicide risk, and coordination system among institutions.
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