Patients suffering with mental health issues are two and a half times more likely to be victims of murder than the general population, according to a study by Manchester University.
The research, conducted across England and Wales between 2003 and 2005, found that health providers could expect to see one of their patients killed almost every two years.
Over the three-year study period, 1,496 people in England and Wales were killed in homicides, 6% of which had been under the care of mental health services in the year before their death.
A third of the victims were killed by other individuals suffering from mental illness while psychiatric patients accounted for 12% of convictions for unlawful killing.
Study leader Professor Louis Appleby, from the University of Manchester, said: “Historically, society has been more concerned about the risk of patients committing violence than the vulnerability of patients to violent acts.
“However, our findings show that specialist mental health providers in England and Wales can expect one of their patients to be the victim of homicide roughly every two years.”
In almost all 23 cases where a patient was killed by another patient, victim and perpetrator were known to each other as partners, family members or acquaintances.
The victim and perpetrator were also undergoing treatment at the same NHS trust in all but two of the cases.
The findings, published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal from the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, also found that alcohol, drug use and a history of violence were common among killers and victims.
In the same period, the study found that 213 mental health patients were convicted of homicide—accounting for 12% of all murder convictions.
“Assessing patients for risk of suicide and violence is common practice, but screening for risk of becoming victims of violence is not,” added Prof Appleby.
“Understanding that a patient’s risk can depend on the environment they are in – for example their use of alcohol or drugs, or their contact with patients with a history of violence – and properly assessing these risk factors should become a key part of clinical care plans.”
Picture courtesy of sander van der wel via Flickr, with thanks
