Risk Factors Identified for
Completed Suicide in Bipolar Patients
Bipolar patients appear to have a higher suicide risk when young and seven to
12 years subsequent to disease onset, report researchers in the Journal of
Clinical Psychiatry.
Led by Shang-Ying Tsai, from Taipei Medical University in Taiwan, the
researchers assessed the nature of death in 2133 patients with bipolar I
disorder from date of admission in January 1985 until December 1996, using the
Death Certification System in Taiwan.
In total, 19 female and 24 male patients committed suicide. For comparison,
41 of these 43 participants were matched with living bipolar patients for age,
sex, and date of admission.
A high proportion of suicide completers (70%) had a disease duration of at
least seven years at the time of death, with the latency period from the
presumed time of onset to completing suicide averaged at 12.2 years.
Nevertheless, two years following hospital admission also appeared to be a
problematic time, during which more than half of the patients completed suicide.
Young bipolar patients constituted a high-risk group, Tsai's team reports,
with 31.1 years being the mean age of first suicide attempt. Furthermore, 60% of
completed suicides occurred before the patients reached 35 years.
Other important risk factors for committing suicide included a family history
of suicide among first-degree relatives, and previous suicide attempt.
However, the researchers note that, as mood-congruent psychotic features at
the onset of bipolar disorder proved to be a significant factor in reducing the
risk of suicide, determining 'symptomatology at the time of presumed disease
onset may potentially differentiate subgroups of bipolar patients with various
levels of suicide risk'.
J Clin Psychiatry 2002; 63: 469?476
http://www.psychiatrymatters.md/news/2002/week_25/day_5/p_0000051835.asp
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