Individuals with a family history of completed suicide or mental illness resulting in hospitalization appear to be at an increased risk of suicide, with the risk being strongest when both risk factors are combined, according to new research. To assess whether a family history of suicidal behavior increases suicide risk independently of psychopathology, Ping Qin (Aarhus University, Denmark) and colleagues conducted a study using data from Danish longitudinal registers.

In all, 4262 people who had committed suicide during 1981 to 1987 were included. All of the individuals were aged between 9 and 45 years.

For comparison, 80,238 population-based controls matched for age, sex, and date of suicide were also enrolled into the study.

Among individuals who had a family history of completed suicide, the risk of suicide was increased by 2.58 times compared with controls. Similarly, a family history of psychiatric illness that required hospitalization increased suicide risk by 1.31 times.

"The effect was strongest when both had occurred," the team notes in The Lancet.

Furthermore, these two independent risk factors were not accounted for by differences in socioeconomic, demographic, or psychiatric status in the population.

Interestingly, while familial suicidal behavior acted uniformly on suicide risk in both sexes and across age groups, the effect of familial psychiatric illness differed slightly by sex and by age.

"With respect to attributable risk, we showed that a family suicide history and family psychiatric history accounted for 2.25% and 6.80% of suicides, respectively," the researchers said

They conclude: "These factors might be essential in prevention programmes targeting adolescents and young adults, and might apply to the general population."

Lancet 2002; 360: 1126?1130

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