Authorities around the world are increasingly using locked-door policies to keep patients safe from harm, but locked doors also restrict personal freedom.
Most of the patients had brain disorders relating to dementia, substance use, schizophrenia, and affective disorders, including mood disorders, such as depression, stress-related, and personality disorders.
They looked at the numbers of completed suicides, attempted suicides, leaving and then returning, and absconding without return.
They then factored in whether the hospital had an open door policy or not, and whether the wards were locked, partly locked, open, or if they were day clinic wards.
Findings revealed similar rates of suicide and attempted suicide, regardless of whether a hospital had a locked door policy or not. Furthermore, hospitals with an open door policy did not have higher rates of absconding, either with or without return. Patients who left an open door hospital without permission were more likely to return than those from a closed facility.