%0 Journal Article
%T Risk and protective factors for suicide mortality among patients with alcohol dependence
%J Journal of clinical psychiatry
%D 2015
%A Chin-Lun Hung, Galen
%A Cheng, Chia-Tzu
%A Jhong, Jia-Rong
%A Tsai, Shang-Ying
%A Chen, Chiao-Chicy
%A Kuo, Chian-Jue
%V 76
%N 12
%P 1687-1693
%X OBJECTIVE: People with alcohol dependence suffer from poor health outcomes, including excessive suicide mortality. This study estimated the suicide rate and explored the risk and protective factors for suicide in a large-scale Asian population. <br><br>METHOD: We enrolled patients with alcohol dependence (ICD-9 code 303**) consecutively admitted to a psychiatric center in northern Taiwan from January 1, 1985, through December 31, 2008 (N = 2,793). Using patient linkage to the national mortality database (1985-2008), we determined that 960 patients died during the study period. Of those deaths, 65 patients died of suicide. On the basis of risk-set sampling for the selection of controls, we conducted a nested case-control study and collected the information by means of a standardized chart review process. We estimated the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for suicide mortality. Conditional logistic regression was employed for exploring the risk and protective factors for suicide. <br><br>RESULTS: The study subjects had excessive suicide and all-cause deaths, with SMRs of 21.2 and 12.7, respectively. We pinpointed auditory hallucination (adjusted risk ratio [aRR] = 1.80, P =.04) and attempted suicide (aRR = 7.52, P =.001) as the risk factors associated with suicide. In contrast, protective factors included financial independence (aRR = 0.11, P =.005) and being married (aRR = 0.16, P =.02). Intriguingly, those with physical illnesses had a lower risk of suicide (aRR = 0.15, P =.01). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the general population, those with alcohol dependence faced excessive suicide mortality. For a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention, recognizing and improving the protective factors could have equal importance in mitigating the risk of suicide.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
%G en
%I Physicians Postgraduate Press
%@ 0160-6689
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.4088/JCP.15m09825