Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T15:00:04.606Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Modelling suicide risk in affective disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

A.P. Boardman  and
D. Healy
A.P. Boardman
Affiliation:
Health Services Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 9AF, England; North Wales Department of Psychological Medicine, Hergest Unit, Bangor, WalesLL57 2PW, UK
D. Healy*
Affiliation:
Health Services Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 9AF, England; North Wales Department of Psychological Medicine, Hergest Unit, Bangor, WalesLL57 2PW, UK
*
*Correspondence and reprints. E-mail address: [email protected] (D. Healy).
Get access

Summary

Background

The lifetime risk of suicide in affective disorders is commonly quoted as 15%. This stems from hospital populations of affective disorders.

Aims

To model the lifetime prevalence of suicide using data on completed suicides from one English Health District and community-based rates of prevalence of affective disorders.

Methods

A secondary analysis of a primary data set based on 212 suicides in North Staffordshire was undertaken. The population rates of psychiatric morbidity were obtained from the National Comorbidity Survey.

Results

The model suggests a lifetime prevalence rate of suicide for any affective disorder at 2.4%, with a rate for those uncomplicated by substance abuse, personality disorder or non-affective psychosis at 2.4%, and a rate for uncomplicated cases who had no mental health service contact at 1.1%.

Conclusions

Lifetime prevalence rates of suicide in subgroups of affective disorders may be lower than the traditional rates cited for hospital depression. This has implications for primary care projects designed to investigate the occurrence of and the prevention of suicide.

Keywords

mood disordersprimary caresubstance misusesuicide
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 16 , Issue 7 , November 2001 , pp. 400 - 405
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allebeck, PAllgulander, C.Psychiatric diagnoses as predictors of suicide. Br J Psychiatry 1990; 157: 339–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Appleby, L.Suicide in psychiatric patients: risk and prevention. Br J Psychiatry 1992; 161: 749–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Akiskal, HSBitar, AHPuzantian, VRRosenthal, TLWalker, PW.The nosological status of neurotic depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1978; 35: 756–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blair-West, GWMellsop, GWEyeson-Annan, ML.Down-rating lifetime suicide risk in major depression. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1997; 95: 259–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blair-West, GWCantor, CHMellsop, GWEyeson-Annan, ML.Lifetime suicide risk in major depression: sex and age determinants. J Affective Disord 1999; 55: 171–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boardman, APGrimbaldeston, AHHandley, CJones, PWWillmott, S.The North Staffordshire Suicide Study: a case-control study of suicide in one health district. Psychol M 1999; 29: 27–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, GWCraig, TKJHarris, TO.Depression: distress or disease? Some epidemiological considerations. Br J Psychiatry 1985; 147: 612–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brugha, TS.Depression undertreatment: lost cohorts, lost opportunities?. Psychol M 1994; 25: 3–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodwin, FKJamison, KR.Manic-depressive illness. New York: University Press; 1990.Google Scholar
Guze, SRobins, E.Suicide and primary affective disorders. Br J Psychiatry 1970; 117: 437–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hagnell, OLanke, JRorsman, B.Suicide rates in the Lundby study: mental illness as a risk factor for suicide. Neuropsychobiology 1981; 7: 248–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, ECBarraclough, B.Excess mortality of mental disorder. Br J Psychiatry 1998; 173: 11–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henriksson, MMAro, HMMarttunen, MJHeikkinen, MEIsometsa, ETKuoppasalmi, KI. et al. Mental disorders and comorbidity in suicide. Am J Psychiatry 1993; 150: 935–40.Google ScholarPubMed
Inskip, HMHarris, ECBarraclough, B.Lifetime risk of suicide for affective disorder, alcoholism and schizophrenia. Br J Psychiatry 1998; 172: 35–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isacsson, GBergman, URich, CL.Epidemiological data suggest antidepressants reduce suicide risk among depressives. J Affective Disord 1996; 41: 1–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Isacsson, GHolmgren, PWasserman, DBergman, U.Use of antidepressants among people committing suicide in Sweden. Br Med J 1994; 308: 506–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Isacsson, G.Suicide prevention – a medical breakthrough?. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2000; 102: 113–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Isometsa, ETHenriksson, MMAro, HMHeikkinen, MEKuoppasalmi, KLLonnqvist, JK.Suicide in major depression. Am J Psychiatry 1994; 151: 530–6.Google ScholarPubMed
Isometsa, EHeikkinen, MHenrikson, MAro, HMarttunen, MKuoppasalmi, K. et al. Suicide in non-major depressions. J Affective Disord 1996; 36: 117–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jick, SDean, ADJick, H.Antidepressants and suicide. Br Med J 1995; 310: 215–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kessler, RCMcGonagle, KAZhao, SNelson, CBHughes, MEshleman, S. et al. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States: results from the National Comorbidity study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1994; 51: 8–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lepine, JPGastpar, MMendlewicz, JTylee, A.Depression in the community: the first Pan-European study DEPRESS (Depression Research in European Society). Int Clin Psychopharmacol 1997; 12: 19–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, RLCloninger, CRGuze, SBClayton, PJ.Mortality in a follow-up of 500 psychiatric outpatients. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1985; 42: 58–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meltzer, HGill, BPetticrew, MHinds, K.The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among adults living in private households. OPCS Surveys of Psychiatric Morbidity in Great Britain. Report 1. London: HMSO; 1995.Google Scholar
Monk, M.Epidemiology of suicide. Epidemiol Rev 1987; 9: 51–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morrison, JR.Suicide in a psychiatric practice population. J Clin Psychiatry 1982; 43: 348–52.Google Scholar
Murphy, GE.Suicide and substance abuse. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1988; 45: 593–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murphy, GEWetzel, RDRobins, EMcEvoy, L.Multiple risk factors predict suicide in alcoholism. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1992; 49: 459–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rihmer, ZRutz, RBarsi, J.Suicide rate, prevalence of diagnosed depression and prevalence of working physicians in Hungary. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1993; 88: 391–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robins, E.Completed suicide. Roy, A, Ed.; Suicide. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins; 1986.Google ScholarPubMed
Rutz, Wvon Knorring, LPihlgren, HRihmer, ZWalinder, J.An educational project on depression and its consequences: is frequency of major depression among Swedish men underrated resulting in higher suicidality. Primary Care Psychiatry 1995; 1: 59–63.Google Scholar
Von Knorring, LBingefors, K.Resistant depression: the need for better treatments. Briley, MSMontgomery, SA, Eds.; Antidepressants at the dawn of the third millenium. London: Martin Dunitz Press; 1998. 319–32.Google Scholar
Watts, CAH.The incidence and prognosis of endogenous depression. Br Med J i 1956 1392–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weel-Baumgarten, Evan Den Bosch, Wvan Den Hoogen, Hvan Zitman, FG.Ten year follow up of depression after diagnosis in general practice. Br J Gen Practice 1998; 48: 1643–1646.Google ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.