Skip to main content

Abstract

Objective:

Although mental health conditions are risk factors for suicide, limited data are available on suicide mortality associated with specific mental health conditions in the U.S. population. This study aimed to fill this gap.

Methods:

This study used a case-control design. Patients in the case group were those who died by suicide between 2000 and 2013 and who were patients in eight health care systems in the Mental Health Research Network (N=2,674). Each was matched with 100 general population patients from the same system (N=267,400). Diagnostic codes for five mental health conditions in the year before death were obtained from medical records: anxiety disorders, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, depressive disorders, and schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

Results:

Among patients in the case group, 51.3% had a recorded psychiatric diagnosis in the year before death, compared with 12.7% of control group patients. Risk of suicide mortality was highest among those with schizophrenia spectrum disorder, after adjustment for age and sociodemographic characteristics (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=15.0) followed by bipolar disorder (AOR=13.2), depressive disorders (AOR=7.2), anxiety disorders (AOR=5.8), and ADHD (AOR=2.4). The risk of suicide death among those with a diagnosed bipolar disorder was higher in women than men.

Conclusions:

Half of those who died by suicide had at least one diagnosed mental health condition in the year before death, and most mental health conditions were associated with an increased risk of suicide. Findings suggest the importance of suicide screening and providing an approach to improve awareness of mental health conditions.

HIGHLIGHTS

Using health care data from a large and diverse participant population, the study found that nearly all diagnoses of mental health conditions examined were associated with an increased risk of suicide.
Suicide mortality risk was associated with different diagnoses for men and women.
The findings may help health care professionals identify individuals at risk of suicide and implement efficient prevention strategies for both men and women.
Suicide is a major public health issue in the United States. More than 40,000 Americans die by suicide each year. In the past two decades, suicide rates increased by more than 20%. This increase included males and females in all age groups (13). Mental health conditions are widely considered to be risk factors for suicide. Most studies that have investigated this association have focused on suicidal ideation or suicide attempts as outcomes (4, 5). Few studies have examined risk of suicide mortality as the main outcome (612).
The research gap is particularly evident within the U.S. general population. In a U.S. veteran population, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia spectrum disorder were found to be associated with a two- to threefold increased risk of suicide death (8). In Sweden and Denmark, the suicide mortality rate was higher among patients with bipolar disorder (13, 14), compared with the general population. Schizophrenia was found to be associated with an elevated risk of suicide mortality in a national clinical survey in England (15). In a U.S. study, Brown and colleagues (16) found that mood disorder, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder were associated with a three- to tenfold increased risk of suicide mortality. However, most of these studies were conducted in other countries or within the U.S. veteran population, and there is limited data from the general U.S. population pertaining to individual psychiatric diagnoses and risk of suicide death.
This study aimed to fill this gap by using health care data to study suicide mortality in the general U.S. population. The data used in this study allowed a comprehensive look at the relationship between diagnoses of mental health conditions and suicide mortality. All diagnoses from all health care settings in a large and diverse population were recorded. We also assessed whether risk of suicide death differs by sex, given the wide variations between men and women in rates of suicide death, mental health conditions, and health care utilization.

Methods

Data Source

The Mental Health Research Network (MHRN), a consortium of 13 health care systems across the United States, collectively provides health care services to more than 15 million demographically and geographically diverse individuals each year (www.mhresearchnetwork.org). All MHRN sites have organized their electronic medical record and insurance claims data into locally stored federated data systems called the Virtual Data Warehouse (VDW). Affiliated health plans provide a diverse range of health insurance for individuals, including commercial, private, Medicaid, and Medicare plans. The same data definitions and variables are included across sites to facilitate multisite research. These data include comprehensive capture of encounters, procedures, diagnoses, providers, cancer-tumor, pharmacy, vital signs, laboratory values, demographic characteristics, and insurance enrollment across large, multispecialty health care delivery systems.
In this study, data were collected from the following eight health care systems: Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (Massachusetts), HealthPartners (Minnesota), Henry Ford Health System (Michigan), and Kaiser Permanente systems in Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. Suicide mortality data were identified from official state mortality records by using ICD-10-CM codes from X60 to X84 and Y87.0. Information on health care utilization in the year before the index date was obtained from all health care settings, including inpatient, outpatient specialty, emergency, and primary care. A detailed data description has been published previously (17). Institutional review boards at each health system approved the use of deidentified data for this research.

Study Sample and Study Design

This study used a case-control design. A total of 2,674 individuals who died by suicide between 2000 and 2013 and were health plan members at one of the eight participating health systems were considered as being in the case group. The date of death was considered to be the index date for individuals who died by suicide, and the same date was selected as the index date for matched patients in the control group. Patients in the case and control groups were continuously enrolled in the health care system’s health plan for at least 10 months during the year before the index date. As a control, each patient who died by suicide was matched with 100 patients from the general population of patients. Control group patients were randomly selected among health plan members enrolled in the same health care system and during the same period as patients in the case group. Thus all patients in the case and control groups were matched by site and enrollment period. A total of 267,400 patients who did not die by suicide were included in the study as the control group. Patients who were in the control group survived for at least 10 months in the year before index date and did not die by suicide.

Measurements

Diagnostic codes were extracted from the VDW for the year prior to the index date for all patients in the study. Five types of mental health conditions were defined by ICD-9-CM codes, including anxiety disorders (codes 300.0, 300.2, 300.3, 309.20, 309.21, 309.24, and 309.81), attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (code 314), bipolar disorder (codes 296.0, 296.1, 296.4–7, 296.5–296.7, 296.80, 296.81, and 296.89), depressive disorders (codes 296.2, 296.3, 296.82, 298.0, 300.4, 301.12, 309.0, 309.1, 309.28, and 311), and schizophrenia spectrum disorder (code 295). These diagnoses were chosen because they represent the most prevalent psychiatric diagnoses among the general U.S. population (8, 1316); other psychiatric diagnoses are seldom made. The findings for substance use disorders were too comprehensive to include in this study. Therefore, we decided to present those findings in a separate report and to focus this report on the five conditions listed above.
Insurance type was captured from the VDW with the classifications of commercial, Medicaid, Medicare, private pay, and other. Neighborhood income and education were calculated by using geocoded address and U.S. Census Bureau block data. Individuals were considered to be of low income if they resided in a census block where >20% of residents had an income below the U.S. poverty level. Individuals were considered to have a high education level if they resided in a census block where ≥25% of residents were college graduates.

Statistical Analysis

Conditional logistic regression was used to investigate the relationship between mental health conditions and suicide mortality. Each diagnosis was coded as a dichotomous variable (yes or no) to indicate the diagnosed condition in the year prior to the index date. The model was adjusted for age, insurance type, and sociodemographic characteristics. A fully adjusted model was adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and all diagnosed mental health conditions. For patients with multiple diagnoses, each diagnosed mental health condition was flagged in the model simultaneously to determine the contribution of each predicted factor while the analysis controlled for the others. All models were conditional on site and index year.
Among individuals who died by suicide, time was documented from the index date backward to the date of each diagnosed mental health condition in the reverse-survival analyses. For individuals with multiple diagnosed mental health conditions that contributed to the time-to-event information for multiple Kaplan-Meier survival curves, the time between the diagnoses was competitive. The event used in this analysis was the last clinical visit for which the relevant diagnosis was coded. Time was measured from the index date backward to the event for each recorded mental health condition. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to capture the probability of the last clinical encounter for which the relevant diagnosis was recorded before suicide death and are displayed backward with time.
The effect of psychiatric diagnoses on suicide mortality in the population was examined by calculating the population-attributable fraction (PAF). The prevalence of each mental health condition was obtained from MHRN data.
All analyses were performed by using SAS, version 9.4, and R-Studio, version 1.136.

Results

Individuals who died by suicide were more likely than the control group to be male (77.5%) and to have had at least one diagnosed mental health condition in the year before suicide (Table 1). Overall, 51.3% of those who died by suicide had at least one of the listed diagnosed mental health conditions in the year before the index date, compared with 12.7% of patients in the control group. Those who died by suicide had, on average, more health care visits for diagnosed mental health conditions prior to the index date, compared with patients in the control group (5.2 versus 0.6 visits, respectively). Table 1 also shows the number of days between the last visit with a diagnosed mental health condition and suicide death among those who died by suicide. The shortest interval was found among those with a diagnosed schizophrenia spectrum disorder (45.4 days), and the longest was among those with ADHD (87.0 days).
TABLE 1. Characteristics and use of mental health care among patients who died by suicide and matched patients in a control group
 Suicide group (N=2,674)Control group (N=267,400)
CharacteristicN%N%
Age    
 0–171043.959,26422.2
 18–3964124.069,18725.9
 40–641,34950.5104,80439.2
 ≥6558021.734,14512.8
Sex    
 Female60222.5140,41852.5
 Male2,07277.5126,98047.5
Insurance type    
 Commercial1,85569.7214,65080.7
 Medicaid491.86,9902.6
 Medicare63623.934,13712.8
 Other6.2257.1
 Private pay1174.410,0193.8
Neighborhood poverty level    
 Higher than low income2,10589.8211,61390.3
 Low incomea23810.222,8529.8
Neighborhood education level    
 <25% college graduate1,62661.7166,63863.2
 ≥25% college graduateb1,00838.396,90836.8
Mental health conditionc    
 Anxiety disorders67325.213,7605.2
 ADHD672.54,2821.6
 Bipolar disorder2138.01,717.6
 Depressive disorders1,12642.122,2138.3
 Schizophrenia spectrum disorder612.3329.1
 Any of the listed conditions1,37151.334,04912.7
 MSDMSD
N of visits with recorded condition in the year before the index date    
 Anxiety disorders1.304.53.181.46
 ADHD.10.94.06.76
 Bipolar disorder.683.74.04.8
 Depressive disorders2.907.13.342.14
 Schizophrenia spectrum disorder.222.47.01.66
 Any of the listed conditions5.2011.72.623.42
Days between the last visit and suicide death    
 Anxiety disorders64.9289.52
 ADHD87.03112.57
 Bipolar disorder53.5374.29
 Depressive disorders67.4090.39
 Schizophrenia spectrum disorder45.4471.51
 Any of the listed conditions65.5089.17
a
Proportion of individuals living in U.S. Census blocks where >20% have incomes below the U.S. poverty level.
b
Proportion of individuals living in U.S. Census blocks where ≥25% are college graduates.
c
Because individuals may have had more than one visit in the year before the index date, each individual may have had more than one diagnosis.
Overall, having a diagnosis of a mental health condition in the preceding year was associated with a higher risk of death by suicide (Table 2). After the analysis adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, individuals with diagnosed mental health conditions in the year prior to the index date were 6.8 times more likely to die by suicide (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=6.84). Diagnoses of schizophrenia spectrum disorder or bipolar disorder were associated with the highest relative odds of suicide mortality. Compared with patients with no diagnosed mental health condition, patients with diagnosed schizophrenia spectrum disorder in the year prior to the index date were 15 times more likely to die by suicide (AOR=15.00) and those with bipolar disorder were 13 times more likely (AOR=13.17). Elevated risks were also observed for depressive disorders (AOR=7.20), anxiety disorders (AOR=5.84), and ADHD (AOR=2.37). After adjustment for all listed diagnoses (fully adjusted model), suicide risk remained highest among individuals with diagnoses of bipolar disorder (AOR=5.14), depressive disorders (AOR=4.98), and schizophrenia spectrum disorder (AOR=4.88). The estimated effect of ADHD on suicide mortality was no longer significant after adjustment for the other diagnoses.
TABLE 2. Association between mental health condition and risk of suicide death among patients at health care systems in the Mental Health Research Networka
 AllMaleFemale
Model and disorderOR95% CIOR95% CIOR95% CI
Univariateb      
 Anxiety disorders6.395.84–7.008.047.21–8.977.796.56–9.25
 ADHD1.581.24–2.021.16.88–1.542.321.41–3.83
 Bipolar disorder13.4811.62–15.6412.9410.57–15.8422.9318.22–28.87
 Depressive disorders8.297.66–8.9711.0610.08–12.1411.099.4–13.08
 Schizophrenia spectrum disorder18.9614.39–24.9915.1210.67–21.4329.4318.49–46.86
 Any of the listed conditions6.395.84–7.008.047.21–8.977.796.56–9.25
Adjusted for sociodemographic characteristicscAORd95% CIAORd95% CIAORd95% CI
 Anxiety disorders5.845.29–6.447.556.71–8.507.155.93–8.62
 ADHD2.371.79–3.151.921.38–2.673.141.80–5.50
 Bipolar disorder13.1711.19–15.5112.6010.07–15.7822.8717.79–29.40
 Depressive disorders7.206.61–7.849.508.59–10.5210.098.43–12.08
 Schizophrenia spectrum disorder15.0011.04–20.3813.188.95–19.4123.0713.73–38.74
 Any of the listed conditions6.846.29–7.448.277.51–9.1210.608.79–12.78
Fully adjustedeAORd95% CIAORd95% CIAORd95% CI
 Anxiety disorders2.362.11–2.642.832.46–3.252.401.94–2.97
 ADHD.88.66–1.18.67.48–.95.86.48–1.53
 Bipolar disorder5.144.29–6.164.093.16–5.298.926.75–11.78
 Depressive disorders4.984.52–5.486.435.73–7.226.455.29–7.87
 Schizophrenia spectrum disorder4.883.42–6.954.662.95–7.385.232.83–9.66
a
Reference group for all comparisons was the absence of the given diagnosis.
b
Unadjusted model.
c
Adjusted for age, insurance type, poverty level, and education level.
d
AOR, adjusted odds ratio.
e
Adjusted for age, insurance type, poverty level, education level, and all listed mental health conditions.
After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics and stratification by sex, women with diagnosed mental health conditions in the preceding year had higher relative odds of death by suicide, compared with men (AOR=10.60 versus AOR=8.27, respectively). Women with diagnosed mental health conditions of bipolar disorder, depressive disorders, and schizophrenia spectrum disorder had higher relative odds of death by suicide, compared with men. Among those with diagnosed bipolar disorder, the relative likelihood of dying by suicide was significantly higher among women than among men (AOR=22.87 versus AOR=12.60). Overall, the effect of psychiatric diagnoses on suicide mortality was higher among women than among men.
We performed additional analyses to investigate how substance use disorders might affect the results presented in Table 2. After adjustment for substance use disorders in the model adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and the fully adjusted model separately, the AORs were attenuated. For example, individuals with any of the listed diagnosed mental health conditions in the year prior to the index date were five times more likely to die by suicide after adjustment for substance use disorders and sociodemographic characteristics. [Tables with details from these analyses are provided in an online supplement to this article.]
Kaplan-Meier survival curves with inverse time were used to estimate the probability of diagnosed mental health conditions before suicide death (Figure 1). Nearly 40% of individuals who died by suicide had at least one clinical visit with a recorded mental health condition within 3 months before suicide death. This gradually increased to approximately 50% up to within a year before suicide death. In the year before suicide death, more than 40% of individuals had a recorded depressive disorder, followed by 15.0% with anxiety disorders, 7.5% with bipolar disorder, 2.5% with ADHD, and 2.1% with schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Individuals who died by suicide often had psychiatric diagnoses recorded within the 3 months before the index date.
FIGURE 1. Kaplan-Meier survival curves depicting the estimated probability of diagnosed mental health conditions in the year before suicidea
aPlotted with 95% confidence interval bands (shaded areas) in inverse survival curve with relation to elapsed time (in days), calculating backward from the time of suicide death to the last clinical visit in which the relevant diagnosis was coded. (N=2,674).
Nearly 50% of women who died by suicide had at least one clinical visit with a recorded mental health condition within the 3 months before suicide death, compared with 35% of males (Figure 2). In addition, in the year before suicide, more than 65% of women who died by suicide had at least one recorded mental health condition, compared with 45% of men.
FIGURE 2. Kaplan-Meier survival curves depicting the estimated probability of diagnosed mental health conditions in the year before suicide, stratified by sexa
aPlotted with 95% confidence interval bands (shaded areas) in inverse survival curve with relation to elapsed time (in days), calculating backward from the time of suicide death to the last clinical visit in which the relevant diagnosis was coded. (N=2,674).
To reflect the importance of both relative odds and prevalence, we evaluated the PAF of suicide mortality associated with diagnosed mental health conditions in the year before suicide death. An estimated 27% of suicide deaths were attributable to depressive disorders, 22% to anxiety disorders, 8% to bipolar disorder, 2% to schizophrenia spectrum disorder, and 1% to ADHD (Figure 3).
FIGURE 3. Population-attributable fraction for the proportion of suicide deaths attributable to mental health conditions among patients in eight health care systems in the Mental Health Research Networka
aThe prevalence of each mental health condition was obtained from Mental Health Research Network.

Discussion

This study found that nearly 50% of individuals who died by suicide had at least one diagnosed mental health condition in the year before suicide death. Nearly all mental health conditions were associated with an increased risk of suicide mortality, and this risk was highest among those with bipolar disorder, depressive disorders, and schizophrenia spectrum disorder. In addition, among individuals who died by suicide, a greater proportion of women had recorded mental health diagnoses in the year before suicide, compared with men (65% versus 45%). Moreover, with respect to the PAF within health care systems (i.e., MHRN), an estimated 27% of suicide deaths were attributable to depressive disorders.
The findings of this study are similar to those of previous studies in other populations. Bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia spectrum disorder are three of the most common diagnosed mental health conditions associated with suicide death. Among veterans, bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia spectrum disorder were found to be associated with increased risk of suicide death (8). Suicide risk among individuals with any of the listed diagnosed mental health conditions was slightly lower in the veteran population than in our study sample. One explanation could be that the proportion of men is higher in veteran populations and that men are less likely to have diagnosed mental health conditions. Two studies found a similar result; more than 40% of individuals who died from suicide had a diagnosis of depression or bipolar disorder within 12 months before death, and more than 20% had a diagnosed schizophrenia spectrum disorder (7, 18). A meta-analysis also showed that the risk of suicide among patients with bipolar disorder was 20 to 30 times greater than for the general population (19).
Previous studies, in the general population and among veterans, have found that, compared with persons without anxiety, those with anxiety were more likely to have suicidal ideation, attempted suicides, or completed suicides (4, 8, 20, 21). Our findings are consistent with these. However, because disorders are “bundled” in the data set, we were not able to tease apart the various anxiety disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder.
Studies have examined male-female differences in suicide risk among individuals with diagnoses of mental health conditions (8, 13, 2226). Previous studies found that suicide risk was higher among those with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia spectrum disorder, especially for women (22, 26). These findings are in line with those of our study. In a Swedish population, the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for suicide was especially high among individuals with bipolar disorder (13). SMRs for suicide were eight times higher among men with bipolar disorder and ten times higher among women with bipolar disorder, compared with deaths by natural causes. Sex differences could be explained by the evidence that depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia spectrum disorder are more common among women than among men. In addition, women are more likely to seek mental health treatment (27, 28), thus making them more likely to have a recorded mental health condition. This finding is important for men, given that they have a much greater overall risk of suicide but are much less likely to have a diagnosed mental health condition. This suggests that outreach and universal suicide prevention approaches may be needed, especially for men in a health system who are not diagnosed as having any of the listed mental health conditions (28).
The association between ADHD and suicide was higher among women than among men after the analysis adjusted for the effect of age and other socioeconomic factors. Although ADHD is more common among men (29), women with ADHD were found to have a much higher risk of self-harm and suicide attempts, compared with men (30). However, the association between diagnosed ADHD and suicide mortality was no longer significant in our analysis after adjustment for other mental health conditions, suggesting that persons with ADHD and another of the listed conditions are at greater risk of suicide mortality from the other condition than from ADHD.
Health care utilization within 1 month or 1 year before suicide has been examined in other studies (3133). In this study, we examined the estimated probability of clinical visits with a recorded mental health condition month by month, from 1 month to 12 months prior to suicide. These findings contribute a more detailed time frame for suicide deaths. Approximately 40% of those who died by suicide had at least one recorded mental health condition within 3 months prior to suicide, a finding similar to those of previous studies (32, 34, 35). This suggests that there are opportunities to intervene with patients within the health care environment prior to suicide, which supports the need for effective identification, assessment, and treatment. The national Zero Suicide initiative provides recommendations for structured processes to accomplish these care pathways (36).
These analyses provided estimates of population-level relative risk and of the number of individuals at risk in the population. Both are important issues to consider when assessing the relationship between mental health conditions and risk of suicide. For example, patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia spectrum disorder are at the highest relative risk of suicide death, but they also represent smaller numbers of individuals. In terms of numbers, the largest number of individuals who died by suicide were those with depressive and anxiety disorders, and these individuals may be the focus of larger suicide prevention approaches across the health system. Conditions with greater relative risk but lower numbers may be assessed and treated with higher-intensity interventions. Conditions that occur among more individuals but that have lower relative-risk estimates may be the focus of larger systemwide efforts, including lower-intensity screening and intervention approaches.
The data presented in this report represent real-world diagnoses in the clinic. However, these findings must be viewed in the context of several limitations. First, uninsured individuals were not included in the study population. Therefore, our findings may not be generalizable to this group, such as for calculating attributable suicide deaths. Second, the severity of mental illness was not available in the clinical data collected for this study. Data on severity could provide more context for these findings. Third, patients who did not survive for at least 10 months in the year before the index date were not included in the control group. This exclusion criterion might have influenced differences between the case and control groups. For example, we may have excluded from the control group persons with mental disorders who died by drug overdose in the year before the index date. Finally, all recorded diagnoses of mental health conditions were coded by health care providers. Therefore, some conditions may have been undetected or not coded in clinical records because some individuals may not have presented with symptoms during a clinic visit or may have presented with symptoms that did not meet criteria for a full diagnosis.

Conclusions

Approximately half of the individuals who died by suicide had at least one diagnosed mental health condition in the year before their death, and most diagnoses were associated with an increased risk of suicide. Our findings suggest the importance of suicide screening and of approaches to improve awareness of mental health conditions. In addition, we should look beyond the risk of suicide among those with mental health conditions and address the risk of suicide in the general population more directly (37).

Supplementary Material

File (appi.ps.201800346.ds001.pdf)

References

1.
Curtin SC, Warner M, Hedegaard H: Increase in suicide in the United States, 1999–2014. NCHS Data Brief, April 2016
2.
Gibbons RD, Hur K, Mann JJ: Suicide rates and the declining psychiatric hospital bed capacity in the United States. JAMA Psychiatry 2017; 74:849–850
3.
Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). Atlanta, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Accessed April 5, 2019
4.
DeVylder JE, Lukens EP, Link BG, et al: Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among adults with psychotic experiences: data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys. JAMA Psychiatry 2015; 72:219–225
5.
Nock MK, Hwang I, Sampson NA, et al: Mental disorders, comorbidity and suicidal behavior: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Mol Psychiatry 2010; 15:868–876
6.
Ahmedani BK, Perron B, Ilgen M, et al: Suicide thoughts and attempts and psychiatric treatment utilization: informing prevention strategies. Psychiatr Serv 2012; 63:186–189
7.
Appleby L, Shaw J, Amos T, et al: Suicide within 12 months of contact with mental health services: national clinical survey. BMJ 1999; 318:1235–1239
8.
Ilgen MA, Bohnert AS, Ignacio RV, et al: Psychiatric diagnoses and risk of suicide in veterans. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2010; 67:1152–1158
9.
Lewandowski-Romps L, Schroeder HM, Berglund PA, et al: Medical-encounter mental health diagnoses, non-fatal injury and polypharmacy indicators of risk for accident death in the US Army enlisted soldiers, 2004–2009. Prev Med 2018; 111:299–306
10.
Nock MK, Ursano RJ, Heeringa SG, et al: Mental disorders, comorbidity, and pre-enlistment suicidal behavior among new soldiers in the US Army: results from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS). Suicide Life Threat Behav 2015; 45:588–599
11.
Fontanella CA, Warner LA, Hiance-Steelesmith DL, et al: Service use in the month and year prior to suicide among adults enrolled in Ohio Medicaid. Psychiatr Serv 2017; 68:674–680
12.
Walby FA, Myhre MO, Kildahl AT: Contact with mental health services prior to suicide: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychiatr Serv 2018; 69:751–759
13.
Osby U, Brandt L, Correia N, et al: Excess mortality in bipolar and unipolar disorder in Sweden. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2001; 58:844–850
14.
Høyer EH, Mortensen PB, Olesen AV: Mortality and causes of death in a total national sample of patients with affective disorders admitted for the first time between 1973 and 1993. Br J Psychiatry 2000; 176:76–82
15.
Hunt IM, Kapur N, Windfuhr K, et al: Suicide in schizophrenia: findings from a national clinical survey. J Psychiatr Pract 2006; 12:139–147
16.
Brown GK, Beck AT, Steer RA, et al: Risk factors for suicide in psychiatric outpatients: a 20-year prospective study. J Consult Clin Psychol 2000; 68:371–377
17.
Ahmedani BK, Peterson EL, Hu Y, et al: Major physical health conditions and risk of suicide. Am J Prev Med 2017; 53:308–315
18.
Osborn D, Levy G, Nazareth I, et al: Suicide and severe mental illnesses: cohort study within the UK general practice research database. Schizophr Res 2008; 99:134–138
19.
Pompili M, Gonda X, Serafini G, et al: Epidemiology of suicide in bipolar disorders: a systematic review of the literature. Bipolar Disord 2013; 15:457–490
20.
Kanwar A, Malik S, Prokop LJ, et al: The association between anxiety disorders and suicidal behaviors: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Depress Anxiety 2013; 30:917–929
21.
Sareen J, Cox BJ, Afifi TO, et al: Anxiety disorders and risk for suicidal ideation and suicide attempts: a population-based longitudinal study of adults. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2005; 62:1249–1257
22.
Qin P: The impact of psychiatric illness on suicide: differences by diagnosis of disorders and by sex and age of subjects. J Psychiatr Res 2011; 45:1445–1452
23.
Chang CM, Liao SC, Chiang HC, et al: Gender differences in healthcare service utilisation 1 year before suicide: national record linkage study. Br J Psychiatry 2009; 195:459–460
24.
Cho J, Kang DR, Moon KT, et al: Age and gender differences in medical care utilization prior to suicide. J Affect Disord 2013; 146:181–188
25.
Qin P, Agerbo E, Westergård-Nielsen N, et al: Gender differences in risk factors for suicide in Denmark. Br J Psychiatry 2000; 177:546–550
26.
Palmer BA, Pankratz VS, Bostwick JM: The lifetime risk of suicide in schizophrenia: a reexamination. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2005; 62:247–253
27.
Andrade LH, Alonso J, Mneimneh Z, et al: Barriers to mental health treatment: results from the WHO World Mental Health surveys. Psychol Med 2014; 44:1303–1317
28.
Möller-Leimkühler AM: The gender gap in suicide and premature death or: why are men so vulnerable? Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2003; 253:1–8
29.
Cantwell DP: Attention deficit disorder: a review of the past 10 years. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1996; 35:978–987
30.
Swanson EN, Owens EB, Hinshaw SP: Pathways to self-harmful behaviors in young women with and without ADHD: a longitudinal examination of mediating factors. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2014; 55:505–515
31.
Luoma JB, Martin CE, Pearson JL: Contact with mental health and primary care providers before suicide: a review of the evidence. Am J Psychiatry 2002; 159:909–916
32.
Vasiliadis HM, Ngamini-Ngui A, Lesage A: Factors associated with suicide in the month following contact with different types of health services in Quebec. Psychiatr Serv 2015; 66:121–126
33.
Ahmedani BK, Simon GE, Stewart C, et al: Health care contacts in the year before suicide death. J Gen Intern Med 2014; 29:870–877
34.
Pearson A, Saini P, Da Cruz D, et al: Primary care contact prior to suicide in individuals with mental illness. Br J Gen Pract 2009; 59:825–832
35.
Meehan J, Kapur N, Hunt IM, et al: Suicide in mental health in-patients and within 3 months of discharge: national clinical survey. Br J Psychiatry 2006; 188:129–134
36.
Ahmedani BK, Vannoy S: National pathways for suicide prevention and health services research. Am J Prev Med 2014; 47(suppl 2):S222–S228
37.
Hogan MF: To prevent suicide, address it directly. Psychiatr Serv 2018; 69:737

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric Services
Go to Psychiatric Services
Psychiatric Services
Pages: 750 - 757
PubMed: 31185853

History

Revision received: 26 February 2018
Received: 19 July 2018
Revision received: 23 October 2018
Revision received: 5 April 2019
Accepted: 18 April 2019
Published online: 12 June 2019
Published in print: September 01, 2019

Keywords

  1. Suicide and self-harm
  2. Mental health
  3. Diagnosis
  4. Prevention
  5. Health care

Authors

Details

Hsueh-Han Yeh, Ph.D. [email protected]
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Joslyn Westphal, M.P.H.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Yong Hu, M.A.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Edward L. Peterson, Ph.D.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
L. Keoki Williams, M.D., M.P.H.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Deepak Prabhakar, M.D., M.P.H.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Cathrine Frank, M.D.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Kirsti Autio, M.S.W.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Farah Elsiss, M.S., T.L.L.P.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Gregory E. Simon, M.D., M.P.H.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Arne Beck, Ph.D.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Frances L. Lynch, Ph.D., M.S.P.H.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Rebecca C. Rossom, M.D., M.S.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Christine Y. Lu, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Ashli A. Owen-Smith, Ph.D., S.M.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Beth E. Waitzfelder, Ph.D.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).
Brian K. Ahmedani, Ph.D.
Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research (Yeh, Westphal, Hu, Autio, Elsiss, Ahmedani), Department of Public Health Sciences (Peterson), Department of Internal Medicine (Williams), Department of Behavioral Health Services (Frank), Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Outpatient Services, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore (Prabhakar); Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle (Simon); Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Denver (Beck); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Portland, Oregon (Lynch); HealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis (Rossom); Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston (Lu); School of Public Health, Georgia State University, and Center for Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Atlanta (Owen-Smith); Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu (Waitzfelder).

Notes

Send correspondence to Dr. Yeh ([email protected]).
The results of this study were presented at the Health Care Systems Research Network Conference, Minneapolis, April 11–13, 2018.

Funding Information

National Institute of Mental Healthhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000025: R01MH103529, U19MH092201
This project was supported by grants R01MH103529 and U19MH092201 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.Dr. Williams reports serving on an advisory committee for Glaxo-Smith-Kline. Dr. Simon reports receipt of royalties from UpToDate.The other authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format
Citation style
Style
Copy to clipboard

View Options

View options

PDF/EPUB

View PDF/EPUB

Get Access

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login
Purchase Options

Purchase this article to access the full text.

PPV Articles - Psychiatric Services

PPV Articles - Psychiatric Services

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Share article link

Share