Acute suicidality or a condition after attempted suicide frequently leads patients to both voluntary or involuntary inpatient admission. Emergency room psychiatrists decide whether such patients can be treated on an outpatient basis.

To identify if immigration status is associated with the decision whether a patient needs a hospital admission.

To detect social determinants of hospital-based health resource uses.

A cross-sectional study including data from 323 patients treated in a general hospital's emergency room after a suicidal attempt during year 2014.

Seventy-six patients were admitted to the hospital (23.5%). Hospitalization frequencies for immigrant and non-immigrant individuals were 6.3% and 26.5% (P = 0.002). No significant association was found between psychiatric admission and history of a diagnosed psychiatric disorder, previous suicidal attempts, previous emergency room care use, family support or current drug use. A subgroup of patients (n = 37; 9%) answered Beck's suicidal intent scale (SIS), a measure of risk in suicidal attempters. Mean SIS was found to be higher among hospitalized than discharged patients (8.5 vs. 16.5; P = 0.01). No significant difference was found in mean SIS between immigrant and non-immigrant patients (9.3 vs. 9.1; P = 0.3).

These preliminary results call for consideration. The highly significant lower rate of psychiatric admission among immigrant patients, without significant differences in mean SIS score in regard to non-immigrants, needs further study.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.