VA suicide risk highest in first 12 weeks

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Veterans with depression are at highest risk for suicide in the 12 weeks after they are hospitalized for psychiatric conditions, U.S. researchers said.

Dr. Marcia Valenstein, a clinical psychiatrist with the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, said current government recommendations have focused on providing intensive follow-up for patients following all new antidepressant starts.

"More attention needs to be paid to the highest-risk periods that follow psychiatric hospitalization," Valenstein said in a statement. "Health systems with limited resources should focus their efforts on this time period to have the greatest impact on suicide prevention."

The study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, said health systems with limited resources should focus their efforts on this time period to have the greatest impact on suicide prevention."

"This finding highlights the need for very close follow-up for patients who are discharged from our inpatient services because this is a particularly vulnerable time for them," Valenstein said.

Nearly one-third of veterans who are treated at Veterans Affairs health care centers have significant depressive symptoms, and about 13 percent have clinically diagnosed depression, Valenstein said.