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Chronic Physical Illness Burden and Suicidal Ideation Among Dominicans in New York City

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Abstract

Little is known about the association between chronic illness and suicidal ideation (SI) among Dominicans living in the United States. This study used data from a community survey of 2753 Dominican adults in New York City. SI included thoughts of self-harm or being better off dead in the past month. Chronic physical illness burden was categorized as having 0, 1, or 2+ diagnosed conditions. Adjusted logistic regressions evaluated the association between number of conditions and SI, overall and stratified by sex and age. Adjusted models yielded a strong association between chronic illness burden and SI among men [odds ratio (OR) 5.57, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 2.19–14.18] but not women (OR 0.80, 95 % CI 0.50–1.29; interaction p = 0.011). The association of interest did not differ significantly between younger and older adults. Screening for SI in health care practice, particularly among Dominican men with multiple chronic health conditions, may be warranted.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Suzanne Bakken for her helpful comments on the manuscript.

Funding

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)–WICER 4 U (R01 HS022961). This funding source had no involvement in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the report; and decision to submit the article for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Emily Goldmann, Eric T. Roberts, Nina S. Parikh & Bernadette Boden-Albala

  2. Department Neurology, Epidemiology and Health Promotion, College of Dentistry, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Bernadette Boden-Albala

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  1. Emily Goldmann
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Correspondence to Emily Goldmann.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Goldmann, E., Roberts, E.T., Parikh, N.S. et al. Chronic Physical Illness Burden and Suicidal Ideation Among Dominicans in New York City. J Immigrant Minority Health 19, 616–622 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0477-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0477-0

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