Leiden University Scholarly Publications

Persistent URL of this record https://hdl.handle.net/1887/9728

In Collections

This item can be found in the following collections:

Verwey, Bastiaan (2007)

Don't forget : contributions to the assessment and management of suicide attempters in the general hospital

Doctoral Thesis
The aim of this thesis was to contribute to better care for suicide attempters by studying several aspects of their assessment and management. In the first part of the thesis, the role of guidelines was studied resulting in suggestions for improvement. In the second part, the role of factors is studied that, as experience in clinical practice suggests may hamper proper assessment and management. From the studies in part 1, it was concluded that the available evidence suggests that guidelines for the assessment and management of suicide attempters differ to a large extent with respect to their content, that only a minority can be recommended based on an evaluation of their quality, and that they are probably not implemented properly. This leads to a plea to update the Dutch guideline, made 15 years ago, and to develop procedures that may promote implementation. From the studies of part 2, it was concluded that professionals should be alert on patients forgetting relevant aspects of...Show moreThe aim of this thesis was to contribute to better care for suicide attempters by studying several aspects of their assessment and management. In the first part of the thesis, the role of guidelines was studied resulting in suggestions for improvement. In the second part, the role of factors is studied that, as experience in clinical practice suggests may hamper proper assessment and management. From the studies in part 1, it was concluded that the available evidence suggests that guidelines for the assessment and management of suicide attempters differ to a large extent with respect to their content, that only a minority can be recommended based on an evaluation of their quality, and that they are probably not implemented properly. This leads to a plea to update the Dutch guideline, made 15 years ago, and to develop procedures that may promote implementation. From the studies of part 2, it was concluded that professionals should be alert on patients forgetting relevant aspects of the assessment. Furthermore, although a systematic assessment in the hospital is comparable to a reassessment at home, for a subgroup of patients there is concern about their condition after discharge, and their tendency to forget the arrangements made for treatment after discharge from the hospital. So, additional strategies to the assessment in the hospital should be developed. In the Appendix, recommendations are given regarding development and implementation of guidelines for assessment and management of suicide attempters.Show less
Radioreceptor assay
Sedation
Psychopathology
Motive
Intention
Suicide attempt
Assessment
Guideline
Amnesia
Benzodiazepine
All authors
Verwey, Bastiaan
Supervisor
Zitman, F.G.
Qualification
Doctor (dr.)
Awarding Institution
Faculty of Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden University
Date
2007-02-01
ISBN (print)
9789090213682

Funding

Sponsorship
The study reported in this thesis was performed at Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, The Netherlands and was made possible by a grant from ‘Maatschap Psychiaters Alysis’. The publication was financially supported by Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, The Netherlands and the Dutch Federation for General Hospital Psychiatry.