Rights statement: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=PSM The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Psychological Medicine, 43 (12), pp 2593-2602 2013, © 2013 Cambridge University Press.
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Suicide in bipolar disorder in a national English sample, 1996-2009
T2 - frequency, trends and characteristics
AU - Clements, Caroline
AU - Morriss, Richard
AU - Jones, Steven
AU - Peters, Sarah
AU - Roberts, Chris
AU - Kapur, Nav
N1 - http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=PSM The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Psychological Medicine, 43 (12), pp 2593-2602 2013, © 2013 Cambridge University Press.
PY - 2013/12
Y1 - 2013/12
N2 - BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorder (BD) has been reported to be associated with high risk of suicide. We aimed to investigate the frequency and characteristics of suicide in people with BD in a national sample. Method Suicide in BD in England from 1996 to 2009 was explored using descriptive statistics on data collected by the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness (NCI). Suicide cases with a primary diagnosis of BD were compared to suicide cases with any other primary diagnosis.RESULTS: During the study period 1489 individuals with BD died by suicide, an average of 116 cases/year. Compared to other primary diagnosis suicides, those with BD were more likely to be female, more than 5 years post-diagnosis, current/recent in-patients, to have more than five in-patient admissions, and to have depressive symptoms. In BD suicides the most common co-morbid diagnoses were personality disorder and alcohol dependence. Approximately 40% were not prescribed mood stabilizers at the time of death. More than 60% of BD suicides were in contact with services the week prior to suicide but were assessed as low risk.CONCLUSIONS: Given the high rate of suicide in BD and the low estimates of risk, it is important that health professionals can accurately identify patients most likely to experience poor outcomes. Factors such as alcohol dependence/misuse, personality disorder, depressive illness and current/recent in-patient admission could characterize a high-risk group. Future studies need to operationalize clinically useful indicators of suicide risk in BD.
AB - BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorder (BD) has been reported to be associated with high risk of suicide. We aimed to investigate the frequency and characteristics of suicide in people with BD in a national sample. Method Suicide in BD in England from 1996 to 2009 was explored using descriptive statistics on data collected by the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness (NCI). Suicide cases with a primary diagnosis of BD were compared to suicide cases with any other primary diagnosis.RESULTS: During the study period 1489 individuals with BD died by suicide, an average of 116 cases/year. Compared to other primary diagnosis suicides, those with BD were more likely to be female, more than 5 years post-diagnosis, current/recent in-patients, to have more than five in-patient admissions, and to have depressive symptoms. In BD suicides the most common co-morbid diagnoses were personality disorder and alcohol dependence. Approximately 40% were not prescribed mood stabilizers at the time of death. More than 60% of BD suicides were in contact with services the week prior to suicide but were assessed as low risk.CONCLUSIONS: Given the high rate of suicide in BD and the low estimates of risk, it is important that health professionals can accurately identify patients most likely to experience poor outcomes. Factors such as alcohol dependence/misuse, personality disorder, depressive illness and current/recent in-patient admission could characterize a high-risk group. Future studies need to operationalize clinically useful indicators of suicide risk in BD.
KW - Bipolar disorder
KW - mood disorders
KW - suicide
U2 - 10.1017/S0033291713000329
DO - 10.1017/S0033291713000329
M3 - Journal article
VL - 43
SP - 2593
EP - 2602
JO - Psychological Medicine
JF - Psychological Medicine
SN - 0033-2917
IS - 12
ER -