THE FEASIBILITY OF SUICIDE RATES AS AN EVALUATION CRITERION IN COMMUNITY PSYCHIATRY - METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

Over the last 30-40 years the reform of psychiatric care in many count ries has led to deinstitutionalization and treatment of many patients in community psychiatric services. There is an ongoing discussion on w hether this process may lead to a higher suicide rate. There are only a few studies addressing this issue, and empirical data are scarce. Se veral methodological problems make it difficult to use suicide rates a s an evaluation criterion for community psychiatry. These problems are briefly discussed.