• Sofia Barbosa, Márcia Sequeira, Sara Castro, Rita Manso, Catarina Klut Câmara, Bruno Trancas, Nuno Borja-Santos, and Teresa Maia.
• Department of Psychiatry. Hospital Prof. Doutor Fernando Fonseca. Amadora. Portugal.
• Acta Medica Port. 2016 Aug 1; 29 (7-8): 468-475.

IntroductionPsychiatric patients are at increased risk of death from a number of natural and unnatural causes. This study examines the mortality causes of all psychiatric inpatients of an acute psychiatric unit at a general hospital in Portugal for sixteen years (1998 to 2013).Material And MethodsTwenty-one inpatients died at the inpatient unit between 1998 and 2013 (average 1.3 per year). A retrospective study through case-file review was carried to collect demographic characteristics, medical and psychiatry diagnosis. Patients transferred to other wards during their admission were not included.ResultsCirculatory system diseases were the most prevalent causes of death, occurring in 2/3 of patients and include pulmonary embolism (n = 6), acute stroke (n = 3), cardiac arrhythmia (n = 2), acute myocardial infarction (n = 1), abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture (n = 1) and heart failure (n = 1). Two patients died with pneumonia and in four cases the cause of death was undetermined. Only one case of suicide was registered.DiscussionCirculatory conditions were the most frequent causes of death in our inpatient unit. Albeit a relatively rare event, inpatient suicide does occur and, in addition to its complex consequences on staff, family and patients should remain a focus for continued prevention.ConclusionMortality studies are important for determining quality of health care and to create recommendations for preventive measures.

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