Suicide after a XXXX : a population study.

@entity1 @entity64 @entity204
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To establish whether there are increased rates of suicide after a @entity64 and the degree to which any increase is related to gender, age at @entity64 , diagnosis, duration of hospitalisation, and time since @entity64 . DESIGN: Cross linkage of national registers for hospitalisations and causes of @entity204 . SETTING: The population of Denmark, 1979-1993. @entity1 : A study cohort was defined comprising all 114 098 @entity64 @entity1 discharged alive from hospital during the period 1979-1993. These @entity1 were then screened in a register of causes of @entity204 over the same time period, and 359 cases of suicide were identified. MAIN RESULTS: Annual incidence rates, both observed and expected, together with standardised mortality ratios (SMR) were computed based on annual population and suicide statistics, stratified by age and gender. The overall annual incidence rate of suicide in the cohort was 83 per 100 000 per year compared with an expected figure of 45 (difference = 38, 95% CI = 27, 49). Correspondingly, SMR were increased for @entity64 @entity1 . Across all age bands the SMR for mens was 1.88 (95%CI 1.66, 2.13) and for @entity1 1.78 (1.48, 2.14). SMR were greatest (2.85; 2.17, 3.76) for @entity1 under 50 years of age group and were least for @entity1 80 years or older (1.3; 0.95, 1.79). There was no clear relation to @entity64 diagnosis. Suicides were negatively related to duration of hospitalisation, being lowest for those hospitalised for more than three months (0.88; 0.65, 1.19) and highest for those hospitalised for less than two weeks (2.32; 1.92, 2.80). Survival analysis suggested that the risk for suicide is greatest up to about five years after a @entity64 . CONCLUSIONS: @entity64 @entity1 are at an approximately doubled risk for suicide. This risk is greater among younger @entity1 and among @entity1 hospitalised for a relatively shorter time. The risk appears to decline with time after a @entity64 , being greatest within the first five years.
