Change in suicide rates for patients with schizophrenia in Denmark, 1981-97: nested case-control study

doi:10.1136/bmj.38133.622488.63

BMJ 2004;329:261 (31 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.38133.622488.63 (published 22 June 2004)

Paper

Change in suicide rates for patients with schizophrenia in Denmark, 1981-97: nested case-control study

Merete Nordentoft, associate professor¹, Thomas Munk Laursen, graduate research scholar², Esben Agerbo, associate professor², Ping Qin, assistant professor², Eyd Hansen Høyer, senior registrar², Preben Bo Mortensen, professor²

¹ Bispebjerg Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Bispebjerg Bakke 23, 2400 Copenhagen NV, Denmark, ² National Centre for Register-based Research, University of Aarhus, Taasingegade 1, DK-8200 Aarhus N, Denmark

Correspondence to: M Nordentoft merete.nordentoft{at}dadlnet.dk

Objective To study the change in risk of suicide among patientswith schizophrenia and related disorders.

Design Nested case-control design with linked data.

Setting 4 longitudinal Danish registers.

Participants 18 744 people aged up to 75 years who committedsuicide in 1981-97 individually matched with 20 controls.

Results Over the time studied the reduction in suicide rateamong patients with schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrumdisorder was similar to that seen in the general population(incidence rate ratio 1.00, 95% confidence interval 0.98 to1.03). The reduction among patients with other psychosis inthe schizophrenia spectrum was faster than the reduction seenin the general population. Among people admitted to hospitalwith schizophrenia the risk of suicide was highest in the firstyear after first admission, and the excess risk was largestin the younger age groups—that is, the risk decreasedper year for every additional year of age.

Conclusion The suicide rate among patients with a diagnosisof schizophrenia and related disorders has fallen. This maybe due to better psychiatric treatment, reduced access to meansof suicide, or improvements in treatment after suicide attempts.

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Managing the acute psychotic episode: Peter Byrne
BMJ 2007 334: 686-692. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

A randomised multicentre trial of integrated versus standard treatment for patients with a first episode of psychotic illness: Lone Petersen, Pia Jeppesen, Anne Thorup, Maj-Britt Abel, Johan Øhlenschlæger, Torben Østergaard Christensen, Gertrud Krarup, Per Jørgensen, and Merete Nordentoft
BMJ 2005 331: 602. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Suicide rates in people with schizophrenia have declined
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