Risk Factors For Suicide In Patients Research Articles

Association study of the complement component C4 gene and suicide risk in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness and a major risk factor for suicide, with approximately 50% of schizophrenia patients attempting and 10% dying from suicide. Although genetic components play a significant role in schizophrenia risk, the underlying genetic risk factors for suicide are poorly understood. The complement component C4 gene, an immune gene involved in the innate immune system and located in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region, has been identified to be strongly associated with schizophrenia risk. In addition, recent findings have also suggested that the MHC region has been associated with suicide risk across disorders, making C4 a potential candidate of interest for studying suicidality in schizophrenia patients. Despite growing interest in investigating the association between the C4 gene and schizophrenia, to our knowledge, no work has been done to examine the potential of C4 variants as suicide risk factors in patients with schizophrenia. In this study, we investigated the association between different C4 copy number variants and predicted C4 brain expression with suicidal outcomes (suicide attempts/suicidal ideation). We directly genotyped 434 schizophrenia patients to determine their C4A and C4B copy number variants. We found the C4AS copy number to be marginally and negatively associated with suicide risk, potentially being protective against suicide attempts (OR = 0.49; p = 0.05) and suicidal ideation (OR = 0.65; p = 0.07). Furthermore, sex-stratified analyses revealed that there are no significant differences between males and females. Our preliminary findings encourage additional studies of C4 and potential immune dysregulation in suicide.

Suicide in patients under care of first‐episode psychosis service

Recognition of suicide risk factors in patients presenting with psychotic illness is of the utmost importance. In their study, the authors identified two important issues in the cohort of patients who died of unnatural causes/suicide, highlighting a need for clinicians to be aware of these risk factors and make efforts to establish a therapeutic relationship, providing appropriate support to patients to help them to develop an awareness of their suicide risk and to empower them to resist their suicidal thoughts.

Management of Psychiatric Disorders in Patients with Respiratory Diseases.

Management of Psychiatric Disorders in Patients with Respiratory Diseases.

Suicide Risk Factors in Patients Recently Discharged From a Psychiatric Hospital: A Case-Control Study.

The first weeks after discharge from a psychiatric hospital constitute a period of considerably increased risk for suicide. Most studies on risk factors have investigated a relatively long time frame after discharge or have identified unmodifiable factors. This case-control study focused on factors describing the interaction between patient and hospital and studied variables during the entire course of the hospital stay. Suicide cases were identified by linking the Tyrol Suicide Register (all suicides occurring in the Austrian state of Tyrol) with the registers of the 3 psychiatric hospitals in the state. Postdischarge suicide cases were defined as suicides occurring within 12 weeks after discharge. Control subjects were patients who had also been inpatients in the respective psychiatric unit but had not committed suicide. Matching variables included sex, age, hospital, diagnosis, and date of discharge. The study period comprised 7 years (February 1, 2004-January 31, 2011). A total of 89 suicide cases and 144 controls were included. Factors differentiating cases from controls included a history of suicidal behavior or threats (odds ratio [OR] = 4.65; P < .001), depressive symptoms (OR = 3.63; P = .004) and disordered thought content (OR = 2.68; P = .001) at admission, admission mode (patient self-referral less often [OR = 0.28; P = .009]), a change from one ward to another (OR = 1.87; P = .035), discharge initiated by the patient (OR = 10.34; P = .013), depressive symptoms at this point in time (OR = 4.42; P < .001), discharge mode (less often into institutional care [OR = 0.17; P = .002]), and linkage with postdischarge care (fixed appointment with a general practitioner less often [OR = 0.53; P = .024]). The results of this study point to suicide preventive measures that may be implemented during and after hospitalization, including clear information transfer in case of unavoidable ward change and optimization of follow-up care organization.

Suicide Risk Factors in Patients with Depression

Introduction Major depression is associated with high risk of suicide. But it remains controversial whether the risk is higher in bipolar depression or unipolar one. Objectives 1. To identify social, clinical and temperamental factors associated with high suicide risk among patients with unipolar or bipolar depression. 2. To compare suicide risk in the two groups. Methods This cross-sectional study, in progress, is conducted on psychiatric outpatients in the University Hospital, in Sfax (Tunisia). We include subjects with major depressive episode in the context of bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder. We use the Arabic version of the full-scale TEMPS-A auto-questionnaire and the suicidal risk assessment scale (RSD). Preliminary Results A total of 28 depressive patients were included. Compared to unipolar patients (20), bipolar patients (8) had more frequent previous suicide attempts (25% vs 10%) and had a higher suicide risk (50% vs 25%). Among high-risk suicidal patients (16/28), 62.5% were males. The main stressful life events were: school failure (66.7%), early grief (55.6%) and family violence (44.4%). Psychotic and atypical features were found in 33.3% and 55.6%, respectively. Comorbidity with personality disorder was noted in 44.4% and with anxiety disorders in 22.2%. Cyclothymic (44.4%) and irritable (33.3%) temperaments were the most common. Conclusion Our results meet those of the literature. Suicide risk is associated with male gender and traumatic events in childhood. Bipolar depression, psychotic features, affective temperaments, as well as personality disorders, and anxiety increase this risk. Attention should be paid to all these factors in depressed patients.

Trastorno límite de la personalidad y conductas autolíticas

This review explores suicide risk factors in patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and proposes a comprehensive diagnostic assessment.A literature search in PubMed (since 2007) was performed, with the following key word search: “borderline personality disorder”, “suicide”, and “self-harming behaviour”. With the selected articles, the following conclusions were drawn up: 1) self harming behaviors are different to lethal suicide attempts in terms of prognosis and personality traits; 2) there are controversial results, probably explained by the fact that borderline personality disorder is an heterogeneous category; and 3) the global risk of completed suicide in these patients is high and the current diagnostic criteria (DSM-IV-TR) do not take into account the associated risk factors (comorbidities, environment, personality traits). Lastly, a topographic assessment of personality, including those aspects not present in the DSM, is proposed.

More suicide risk factors in patients receiving venlafaxine vs other SRIs

More suicide risk factors in patients receiving venlafaxine vs other SRIs

More suicide risk factors in patients receiving venlafaxine vs other SRIs

More suicide risk factors in patients receiving venlafaxine vs other SRIs