Suicide attempts by jumping and length of stay in general hospital: A retrospective study of 225 patients.

OBJECTIVE: Violent suicide attempts, such as jumping from a height, frequently lead to hospitalization in general hospital with high length of stay (LOS). We investigated features associated with LOS in this context. METHODS: We retrospectively included all patients admitted after suicide attempts by jumping in non-psychiatric wards of a university hospital between 2008 and 2016. Several socio-demographic and clinical data were collected, including psychiatric diagnoses, coded with the International Classification of Diseases-10th Revision. We used general linear models to identify factors associated with LOS. RESULTS: Among 225 patients (125 men; mean age ±â€¯sd: 37.5 ±â€¯15.4 years), several clinical factors were independently associated with a longer LOS: number of injuries (ß = 8.2 p < .001), external fixator (ß = 18.1 p = .01), psychotic disorder (ß = 14.6 p = .02) and delirium (ß = 16.6 p = .005). Admission in psychiatric ward at discharge tended to be associated with lower LOS (ß = -15.3 p = .07). CONCLUSION: In patients admitted in non-psychiatric wards after suicide attempt by jumping, the presence of a psychotic disorder may increase LOS by several days, and indirectly costs of hospitalization, to a similar extent of non-psychiatric factors. The association of transfer in psychiatric ward with lower LOS suggests that the psychiatric disorder might interfere with medical care.

Ketamine Use for Suicidal Ideation in the General Hospital: Case Report and Short Review.

Low-dose infusion of ketamine may have rapid antisuicide properties. Such a treatment may therefore be useful in the general hospital to prevent suicide in an environment that cannot be made safe enough. We report on the use of ketamine as an efficient, well-tolerated treatment for persistent suicidal ideation in a patient hospitalized in a general hospital after a severe suicide attempt. Based on data in the literature, we suggest that the benefit-risk ratio for ketamine use in such a context is highly favorable.

Study of impulse control disorders among women presenting nicotine dependence.

Objective. Impulse control disorders (ICDs) include intermittent explosive disorder, kleptomania, trichotillomania, pyromania and pathological gambling. Several studies have showed an association between ICDs and alcohol use disorders. The rate of co-occurrence ICDs and nicotine dependence has never been investigated. We thus assessed the frequency of all ICDs in a population of nicotine-dependent women compared to non-smoking women. We also checked criteria of two other impulsive behaviours, compulsive buying and bulimia. Methods. Five hundred consecutive patients were assessed by a general practitioner in Paris (France). One hundred and twenty-seven women presenting the DSM-IV-R criteria for nicotine dependence were included. They were compared to 127 women consulting the same practitioner but who did not smoke. Diagnosis of ICD (pyromania, kleptomania, trichotillomania, intermittent explosive disorder, pathological gambling) and of bulimia was based on DSM-IV criteria and a modified version of the Minnesota Impulsive Disorders Interview (MIDI). Diagnosis of compulsive buying was made with the McElroy et al. criteria and a specific questionnaire. Cigarette smoking was studied using the Fagerström questionnaire and the DSM-IV-R criteria for nicotine dependence. Alcohol use disorders were assessed with the DSM-IV-R criteria for dependence and the CAGE and the MAST questionnaires. Results. Thirteen patients presented trichotillomania, 22 explosive intermittent disorder and 12 pathological gambling. All these diagnoses were equally frequent in the nicotine-positive and nicotine-negative groups. We found no case of pyromania. Compulsive buying was the most frequent impulse control disorder. It was significantly more frequent in the nicotine-positive group than in the nicotine-negative group (58 vs. 39 cases, P=0.01). Scores of the compulsive buying scale were higher in the nicotine-positive group (4.07 vs. 2.9, P=0.01). None of the patients presented an association of two or more ICDs. Patients from the nicotine-positive group drunk higher quantities of alcohol each day, consumed alcohol more frequently each week and were more often intoxicated each week with alcohol. Their mean MAST scores of alcohol abuse disorders were higher. Conclusion. A total of 45.6% of the nicotine-dependent women presented compulsive buying and 23.6% bulimia. Compulsive buying was significantly more frequent among nicotine-dependent subjects than controls. Other impulse control disorders were as frequent among nicotine-dependent women as in controls. A total of 8.6% presented explosive intermittent disorder, 4.7% pathological gambling and 5% trichotillomania. Nicotine dependence in women was also associated with a higher level of alcohol consumption. These results indicate the possible need to systematically screen nicotine-dependent women, regardless of their motivation for consultation, for alcohol dependence, bulimia and compulsive buying.

Psychiatric disorders among patients admitted to a French medical emergency service.

OBJECTIVE: The authors assessed the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among a population of patients examined in the emergency service of a French general hospital. They compared patients with and without psychiatric disorders. They also compared patients where the primary motive of emergency was psychiatric to those whose psychiatric disorders were secondarily diagnosed by a systematic assessment. METHOD: Five hundred consecutive patients admitted to the emergency service of Bichat Claude Bernard Hospital (Paris, France) were interviewed with standardized questionnaires. Demographic details were collected along with information on current and past contacts with emergencies and psychiatric services. Psychiatric disorders were identified using a structured psychiatric interview, the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Domestic violence was identified with a specific checklist validated for this purpose. RESULTS: Prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 38% (189 patients). Forty (8%) patients were primary psychiatric cases referred to the emergency department for psychiatric reasons, while 149 (30%) were secondary psychiatric cases, as revealed by a systematic assessment of their mental state. Psychiatric patients, primary or secondary, were more often homeless (13.6% vs.1.95%). They had been more often referred to the emergency department after an aggressive (7.4% vs.3.5%) or violent behavior (5.8% vs.0.9%) and less often after an accident (8.4% vs.14.3%). Psychiatric patients were more often examined after an episode of domestic violence (21.7% vs. 6.8%). Psychiatric diagnoses, according to the DSM-IV criteria, were depression (80 cases), generalized anxiety disorder (34 cases) acute alcohol intoxication (21 cases), alcohol dependence (20 cases), schizophrenia (16 cases), posttraumatic stress disorder (14 cases), drug abuse (4 cases), agoraphobia (4 cases), alcohol abuse (3 cases), anorexia nervosa (3 cases), mania (2 cases) and obsessive compulsive disorder (2 cases). The proportion of psychiatric diagnoses was equivalent in primary and secondary psychiatric cases except for schizophrenia (more often a primary demand for psychiatric help) and acute alcohol intoxication (more often revealed by a systematic assessment of the mental state). CONCLUSION: Thirty-eight percent of the patients examined in a French emergency service presented with psychiatric disorders. The majority of the patients (78%) were not referred to the emergency service for psychiatric reasons. Patients seen in an emergency service should thus be identified as a population at risk for psychiatric disorders whatever their reason for utilizing this service.