Abstract
Purpose
Suicide is a leading cause of death in patients with schizophrenia. This nationwide cohort study investigated the incidence of each suicide method in patients with schizophrenia compared with the general population.
Methods
In total, records of 174,039 patients with schizophrenia were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan from 2001 to 2016. This schizophrenia cohort was linked with the national mortality database, and 26,926 patients died during this follow-up period. Of the deceased, 3033 had died by suicide. Univariate Cox regression was used to estimate the demographic variables associated with suicide. We estimated the difference in the proportion of each suicide method used in patients with schizophrenia compared with the general population. The incidence and standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of each suicide method were calculated and stratified based on sex.
Results
Patients aged 25–34 years exhibited the highest suicide risk. Compared with the general population, patients with schizophrenia were more likely to commit suicide by jumping and drowning and less likely to use charcoal-burning and hanging. Women showed a higher incidence of suicide by drowning and jumping than did men. Comorbidity with substance use disorders (SUDs) was associated with a high suicide SMR (26.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 23.4–28.9), particularly for suicide by jumping (61.2, 95% CI = 48.3–76.3).
Conclusions
Patients with schizophrenia had higher suicide rates for all methods than did the general population. Suicide method differed based on sex. Patients with SUDs exhibit a high SMR for each suicide method and warrant intensive clinical attention.
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This research was supported by grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (MOST 105-2314-B-532-006-MY3 and MOST 108-2314-B-532-005) and Taipei City Hospital (10501-62-015 and 10601-62-002). The funding sources had no involvement in the study design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation, report writing, or decision to submit the paper for publication.
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Drs. Pan and Kuo conceived and designed the study. Dr. Kuo acquired the data. Mr. Su performed the statistical analysis. Drs. Tsai and CC Chen provided administrative and material support. Drs. Pan and Kuo and Ms Wang drafted the manuscript. Drs. PH Chen, Chang and YL Chen made critical revisions to the manuscript for important intellectual content, and Drs. Tsai and CC Chen supervised the study.
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Pan, CH., Chen, PH., Chang, HM. et al. Incidence and method of suicide mortality in patients with schizophrenia: a Nationwide Cohort Study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 56, 1437–1446 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01985-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01985-8