The role of physical and mental multimorbidity in suicidal thoughts and behaviours in a Scottish population cohort study

Kavalidou, K. , Smith, D. J. , Der, G. and O'Connor, R. C. (2019) The role of physical and mental multimorbidity in suicidal thoughts and behaviours in a Scottish population cohort study. BMC Psychiatry, 19, 38. (doi: 10.1186/s12888-019-2032-8) (PMID:30674288) (PMCID:PMC6344985)

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Abstract

Background: Physical illness and mental disorders play a significant role in fatal and non-fatal suicidal behaviour. However, there is no clear evidence for the effect of physical and mental illness co-occurrence (multimorbidity) in suicidal ideation and attempts. The aim of the current study was to investigate, whether physical/mental health multimorbidity predicted suicidal thoughts and behaviours as outcomes. Methods: Data from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 cohort were analysed. Twenty-07 is a multiple cohort study following people for 20 years, through five waves of data collection. Participants who responded to past-year suicidal thoughts and suicide attempt items were grouped into four distinct health-groups based on having: (1) neither physical nor mental health condition (controls); (2) one or more physical health condition; (3) one or more mental health condition and; (4) multimorbidity. The role of multimorbidity in predicting suicidal ideation and suicide attempts was tested with a generalised estimating equation (GEE) model and odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs are presented. Whether the effect of multimorbidity was stronger than either health condition alone was also assessed. Results: Multimorbidity had a significant effect on suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, compared to the control group, but was not found to increase the risk of either suicide-related outcomes, more than mental illness alone. Conclusions: We identified an effect of physical/mental multimorbidity on risk of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. Considering that suicide and related behaviour are rare events, future studies should employ a prospective design on the role of multimorbidity in suicidality, employing larger datasets

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Smith, Professor Daniel and O'Connor, Professor Rory and Der, Mr Geoffrey and Kavalidou, Aikaterini
Authors: Kavalidou, K., Smith, D. J., Der, G., and O'Connor, R. C.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU
College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Mental Health and Wellbeing
Journal Name:BMC Psychiatry
Publisher:BioMed Central
ISSN:1471-244X
ISSN (Online):1471-244X
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2019 The Authors
First Published:First published in BMC Psychiatry 19: 38
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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