In 2013 nearly 7,000 people in the UK took their own life.
A Scottish study using the data of 16,411 people linking hospital and mortality records showed that 24 out of 100 suicide deaths occurred within 3 months of discharge from psychiatric and general hospitals. These results support the need for suicide prevention strategies.
The National Records of Scotland (NRS) deaths register and the Scottish Morbidity Records (an NHS Scotland database combining hospital admissions, cancer registration and death records) were used to collect the data.
Click below to see how the study was undertaken and discover more detailed results:
- Deaths by suicide and their relationship with general and psychiatric hospital discharge: 30-year record linkage study – PubMed (nih.gov) Abstract only
- A matter of life and death: how your health information can make a difference | Association of Medical Research Charities publication
- Samaritans | Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy | We are here to listen | support for people feeling suicidal
- Suicide facts and figures | Our policy and research (samaritans.org) Research – Suicide statistics and trends for the UK and Republic of Ireland