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Citation |
Yoshimasu K, Fukumoto J, Takemura S, Shiozaki M, Yamamoto H, Miyashita K. Suicidol. Online 2011; 2: 38-47. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2011, The author(s), Publisher Medical University of Vienna, Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy) |
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DOI |
unavailable |
PMID |
unavailable |
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Abstract |
The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the association between self-reported physical and mental symptoms and suicide risk in Japanese male police officers. Subjects were 1685 such officers in one prefectural police organization. A brief structured diagnostic psychiatric interview, the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.), elicited the basic symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD), dysthymia, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as the level of suicide risk. Information regarding self-reported physical symptoms was obtained from a checklist used in an annual health checkup. Suicide risk was evaluated by the six relevant questions in the M.I.N.I. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. All basic (screening) mental symptoms related to MDD, dysthymia, and PTSD as well as diagnoses of those disorders were statistically significantly associated with an increased suicide risk, except for experiences of traumatic events and a diagnosis of PTSD (due to no subjects with PTSD). Among somatic symptoms, headache, a sense of constriction in the throat, and abdominal pain were significantly associated with an increased suicide risk. Furthermore, palpitation and several gastrointestinal symptoms such as pain at evacuation, abdominal pain, and diarrhea were strongly associated with a moderate or high suicide risk, even after adjusting for MDD and PTSD symptoms. In addition to mental symptoms of depression and PTSD, several somatic symptoms, especially those related to digestive organs, should be noted as possible precursors of a police officer's suicide risk. |