Suicide methods in Europe: a gender-specific analysis of countries participating in the "European Alliance Against Depression"

Objective: To identify the most frequent gener-specific suicide methods in Europe. Design: Proportions of seven predominant suicide methods utilised in 16 countries participating in the European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD)were reported in total and cross-nationally. Relative risk (RR)relating to suicide methods and gender was calculated. To group countries by pattern of suicide methods, hierarchical clustering was applied. Setting and participants: Data on suicide methods for 119 122 male and 41 338 female cases in 2000-4/5 from 16 EAAD countries, covering 52% of European population were obtained. Results: Hanging was the most prevalent suicide method among both males (54.3%) and females (35.6%). For males, hanging was followed by firearms (9.7%) and poisoning by drugs (8.6%); for females, by poisoning by drugs (24.7%)and jumping from a high place (14.5%). Only in Switzerland did hanging rank as second for males after firearms. Hanging ranked first among females in eight countries, poisoning by drugs in five and jumping from a high place in three. In all countries, males had a higher risk than females of using firearms and hanging and a lower risk of poisoning by drugs, drowning and jumping. Grouping showed that countries might be divided into five main groups among males; for females, grouping did not yield clear results. Conclusions: Research on suicide methods could lead to the development of gender-specific intervention strategies. Nevertheless, other approaches, such as better identification and treatment of mental disorders and the improvement of toxicological aid should be put in place

Suicidal ideation during treatment of depression with escitalopram and nortriptyline in Genome-Based Therapeutic Drugs for Depression (GENDEP): a clinical trial

SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Genome-wide scan for genes involved in bipolar affective disorder in 70 European families ascertained through a bipolar type I early-onset proband: supportive evidence for linkage at 3p14

Preliminary studies suggested that age at onset (AAO) may help to define homogeneous bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) subtypes. This candidate symptom approach might be useful to identify vulnerability genes. Thus, the probability of detecting major disease-causing genes might be increased by focusing on families with early-onset BPAD type I probands. This study was conducted as part of the European Collaborative Study of Early Onset BPAD (France, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland, England, Slovenia). We performed a genome-wide search with 384 microsatellite markers using non-parametric linkage analysis in 87 sib-pairs ascertained through an early-onset BPAD type I proband (AAO of 21 years or below). Non-parametric multipoint analysis suggested eight regions of linkage with P-values<0.01 (2p21, 2q14.3, 3p14, 5q33, 7q36, 10q23, 16q23 and 20p12). The 3p14 region showed the most significant linkage (genome-wide P-value estimated over 10 000 simulated replicates of 0.015 [0.01-0.02]). After genome-wide search analysis, we performed additional linkage analyses with increased marker density using markers in four regions suggestive for linkage and having an information contents lower than 75% (3p14, 10q23, 16q23 and 20p12). For these regions, the information content improved by about 10%. In chromosome 3, the non-parametric linkage score increased from 3.51 to 3.83. This study is the first to use early-onset bipolar type I probands in an attempt to increase sample homogeneity. These preliminary findings require confirmation in independent panels of families

Suicide attempts in the United States: the role of physical illness

The study aimed to determine the relationship between physical illness, mental disorder, and the likelihood of suicide attempt among adults aged 15-54 in the United States. Data were drawn from the National Comorbidity Survey (N=8,098), a national probability sample of adults in the United States. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine the relationship between self-reported physical illness and the likelihood of suicide attempt. Lung disease (OR=1.8 (1.1, 2.7)), ulcer (OR=2.1 (1.3, 3.4)), and AIDS (OR=44.1 (10.5, 185.6)) were each associated with a significantly increased likelihood of suicide attempt, independent of the effects of mental disorders. Consistent with previous studies, the number of physical illnesses was linearly related to an increased odds of suicide attempt (OR=1.3 (1.2, 1.5)). Possible mechanisms for these associations are discussed. These findings call for the inclusion of a range of physical health problems, especially chronic illnesses, in future research on suicide attempts in the population.USA Mental disorders Physical illness Suicidal behavior