Diagnosed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Other Trauma-Associated Stress Disorders and Risk for Suicide Mortality
Recommended Citation
Sala-Hamrick KJ, Braciszewski JM, Yeh HH, Zelenak L, Westphal J, Beebani G, Frank C, Simon GE, Owen-Smith AA, Rossom RC, Lynch F, Lu CY, Waring SC, Harry ML, Beck A, Daida YG, and Ahmedani BK. Diagnosed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Other Trauma-Associated Stress Disorders and Risk for Suicide Mortality. Psychiatr Serv 2023.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-5-2023
Publication Title
Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.)
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Strong evidence exists for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors across diverse populations. However, few empirical studies have examined PTSD and other trauma-associated stress disorders as risk factors for suicide mortality among health system populations. This study aimed to assess trauma-associated stress diagnoses as risk factors for suicide mortality in a U.S. health system population.
METHODS: This case-control, matched-design study examined individuals who died by suicide between 2000 and 2015 and had received care from nine U.S. health systems affiliated with the Mental Health Research Network (N=3,330). Individuals who died by suicide were matched with individuals from the general health system population (N=333,000): 120 individuals with PTSD who died by suicide were matched with 1,592 control group members, 84 with acute reaction to stress were matched with 2,218 control individuals, and 331 with other stress reactions were matched with 8,174 control individuals.
RESULTS: After analyses were adjusted for age and sex, individuals with any trauma-associated stress condition were more likely to have died by suicide. Risk was highest among individuals with PTSD (adjusted OR [AOR]=10.10, 95% CI=8.31-12.27), followed by those with other stress reactions (AOR=5.38, 95% CI=4.78-6.06) and those with acute reaction to stress (AOR=4.49, 95% CI=3.58-5.62). Patterns of risk remained the same when the analyses were adjusted for any comorbid psychiatric condition.
CONCLUSIONS: All trauma-associated stress disorders are risk factors for suicide mortality, highlighting the importance of health system suicide prevention protocols that consider the full spectrum of traumatic stress diagnoses.
PubMed ID
37143334
ePublication
ePub ahead of print
First Page
202100244
Last Page
202100244
