A replication of the relationship between adversity earlier in life and elderly suicide rates using five years cross-national data

BACKGROUND: Although life-long adversity has been suggested as a protective factor for elderly suicides, studies examining protective factors for elderly suicides are scarse. A cross-national study examining the relationship between elderly suicide rates and several proxy measures of adversity earlier in life was undertaken to replicate earlier findings by using five consecutive years data on elderly suicide rates from a more recent data set and by adding two more proxy measures of adversity early in life. METHODS: The relationship between elderly suicide rates and five proxy measures of adversity earlier in life was examined using data from the World Health Organization and the United Nations data banks with Spearman’s correlation coefficient. The five proxy measures of adversity early in life were: the percentage of children under the age of 5 years who were under weight, the percentage of children under the age of 5 years who were under height, the percentage of infants with low birth weight babies, the percentage of the general population with sustainable access to improved sanitation and the percentage of the general population with sustainable access to an improved water source. RESULTS: Generally, elderly suicide rates were lower in countries with higher adversity early in life. The only exceptions were in females aged 75+ years where this association only approached statistical significance for the percentage of children under the age of 5 years who were under weight and the percentage of children under the age of 5 years who were under height. CONCLUSIONS: The current study using a more recent data set and a five years data on elderly suicide rates along with two additional proxy measures of adversity early in life was able to replicate the findings of the earlier study. This suggests that the findings of the earlier study were accurate and robust

The relationship between the use of mental health act and general population suicide rates in England and Wales

BACKGROUND: The relationship between suicide and involuntary admissions has been mainly examined in younger and mixed age groups. These studies provide mixed results with some demonstrating no relationship and others reporting increased rates of suicides in involuntarily admitted patients. However, the association between the utility of the Mental Health Act with general population suicide rates in England and Wales has not been formally studied. METHODS: Thus, an ecological study, over the 19-year period, to examine the relationship between rates of involuntary admissions and general population suicide rates in England and Wales was undertaken using nationally collected data. Data on general population suicide rates for both sexes were ascertained from the World Health Organization (WHO) website. Data on the number of detentions under the Mental Health Act were ascertained from the Office of National Statistics website. Data on the population size for the elderly age-bands were ascertained from the WHO website. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between suicide rates and rates of detention under the Mental Health Act. RESULTS: There were negative correlations between rates of involuntary admissions and general population suicide rates in both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: A causal relationship and the direction of causality cannot be assumed because this was an ecological study. There is a need for sufficiently powered study to compare the number of suicide occurring in involuntarily and voluntarily admitted patients using a case-control or cohort design and survival analysis. If an inverse association can be demonstrated between suicide and involuntary admissions then it has important implications for the development of mental health legislation as an adjunct to national suicide prevention strategies

A replication of the relationship between elderly suicides rates and elderly dependency ratios: cross-national study

BACKGROUND: A positive correlation between elderly dependency ratios and elderly suicide rates has been observed using one-year cross-sectional data on elderly suicide rates. METHODS: A cross-national study designed to replicate this positive correlation between elderly dependency ratios and elderly suicide rates was undertaken by: (i) using one-year average of five years data on suicide rates; and (ii) using more recent data on both elderly suicide rates and elderly dependency ratios. Data on elderly suicide rates, and the total number of elderly and young people was ascertained from the World Health Organisation website. RESULTS: The main findings were of significant positive correlations between elderly dependency ratios and suicide rates in both sexes in both the elderly age-bands (65-74 years and 75+ years). CONCLUSIONS: The replication of the positive correlations between elderly dependency ratios and elderly suicide rates by using one-year average of five years data on suicide rates suggests that this relationship is robust and accurate

The relationship between obesity and elderly suicide rates: a cross-national study

BACKGROUND: An inverse relationship between obesity and suicide has been observed in younger adults, but this has not been examined in the elderly. METHODS: A cross-national ecological study examined the independent relationship between the prevalence of obesity and elderly suicide rates, by controlling for potentially confounding variables, using data from the World Health Organization and the United Nations. RESULTS: Elderly suicide rates in females were independently associated with the prevalence of obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Caution should be exercised in attributing a causal relationship from this cross-sectional ecological study due to ecological fallacy and requires confirmation in individual-level case-control or cohort studies

A Replication of a Possible Relationship between Elderly Suicide Rates and Smoking Using Five-Year Data on Suicide Rates. A Cross-National Study

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of studies examining the relationship between smoking and elderly suicides. A recent cross-national study, using one-year cross-sectional data on suicide rates, reported an absence of an independent relationship between elderly suicide rates and the national prevalence of smoking. National aggregates of suicide rates can randomly fluctuate year on year and may lead to erroneous findings in cross-sectional ecological studies when only data from a single year are utilised. METHODS: The relationship between the national prevalence of smoking and suicide rates in both sexes in the age-bands 65-74 and 75+ years was examined using a one-year average of five years data on suicide rates using data from the World Health Organisation and United Nations Development Programme. RESULTS: On univariate analysis, the national prevalence of smoking in males was positively correlated with suicide rates in males aged 65-74 and 75+ years, but this relationship was absent in females. On multivariate analysis there was no independent relationship between the national prevalence of smoking in males and suicide rates in males in both the elderly age-bands. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study, using a one-year average of five years data on suicide rates and a more recent data set, suggests that the absence of an independent relationship between the national prevalence of smoking and elderly suicide rates was accurate and robust

Exploratory role of protein kinase CK2 synergy in treatment of breast cancer

Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer among women. The serine-threonine protein kinase CK2 is overexpressed in many cancers, including lung, prostate, hematologic cancers, and breast (Pinna, 2013). Here, we examined the potential of CK2 inhibition alone and in combination with chemotherapy to treat breast cancer. We performed cell viability assays on five breast cancer cell lines treated with CK2 chemical inhibitors or small interfering RNAs, and chemotherapeutic drugs, to test if a synergistic effect could be attained. We also tested if CK2 inhibition would change the stem-like phenotype, epithelial-to-mesenchymal (EMT) marker expression, and CK2 subunit gene expression in the HS578T cell line. We concluded that in the five cell lines utilized, CK2 inhibition had no synergistic effect with chemotherapeutic drugs. CK2 inhibition had no effect on the stem-like phenotype of HS578T cells. However, CK2 inhibition did show a pattern of inhibition of EMT marker expression. Finally, we found that CK2 inhibition appears to activate a compensatory feedback loop for the transcription of the alpha subunit. This may explain the lack of synergy, and bears further investigation in future studies

The relationship between the use of mental health act and elderly suicide rates in England and Walls

Background: The relationship between suicide and involuntary admissions has been examined in younger and mixed age groups. These studies provide mixed results with some demonstrating no relationship and others reporting increased rates of suicides in involuntarily admitted patients. This relationship has not been examined in the elderly. Methods: Thus, an ecological study, over the 19-year period, to examine the relationship between rates of involuntary admissions and elderly suicide rates in England and Wales was undertaken using nationally collected data. Data on suicide rates for both sexes in the age-bands 65-74 years and 75+ years were ascertained from the World Health Organisation (WHO) website. Data on the number of detentions under the Mental Health Act were ascertained from the Office of National Statistics website. Data on the population size for the elderly age-bands were ascertained from the WHO website. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between suicide rates and rates of detention under the Mental Health Act. Results: There were negative correlations between rates of involuntary admissions and suicide rates in both sexes in the age-bands 65-74 and 75+ years. Conclusion: A causal relationship and the direction of causality cannot be assumed because this was an ecological study. There is a need for sufficiently powered study to compare the number of suicides occurring in involuntarily and voluntarily admitted patients using a case-control or cohort design and survival analysis. If an inverse association can be demonstrated between suicide and involuntary admissions then it has important implications for the development of mental health legislation as an adjunct to national suicide prevention strategies

The relationship between suicide and Islam: a cross-national study

BACKGROUND: Traditionally, suicide rates were low in Islamic countries. However, the process of modernization can erode the ties of the individual to society and lead to questioning of religion and weakening of faith. Therefore, a cross-national study with the null hypothesis that there will be no relationship between general population suicide rates and the percentage of adherents of Islam was undertaken. METHODS: The correlation between general population suicide rates and the percentage of people in the general population adherent to Islam, whilst controlling for socioeconomic status and income inequality, was examined using cross-national data from the World Health Organisation and the United Nations. RESULTS: There were significant negative correlations between general population suicide rate and the percentage of people adherent to Islam in males and females whilst controlling for socioeconomic status and income inequality. CONCLUSIONS: Caution should be exercised in attributing a causal relationship and the direction of causality from this ecological study due to ecological fallacy. However, there is case to study further the impact of Islam on suicide by in-depth study of adherents Islam with and without suicidal ideation and behaviors