Study Suggests Certain Noncancer Pain Conditions Associated With Increased Risk Of Suicide

Study Suggests Certain Noncancer Pain Conditions Associated With Increased Risk Of Suicide

JAMA Psychiatry Study Highlights

A study dint of Mark A. Ilgen, Ph.D, of the Veterans Affairs Serious Mental Illness Treatment Resource and Evaluation Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan and colleagues examined the associations between clinical diagnosis of noncancer pain stipulations and suicide. (Online First)

Data conducive to this retrospective analysis were extracted from the National Death Index and management records from the Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. Researchers identified 4,863,036 individuals who admitted services in fiscal year 2005 and were in existence at the start of fiscal year 2006. The given conditions were examined for associations between baseline clinical diagnoses of worry-related conditions (arthritis, back pain, migraine, neuropathy, headache or tension headache, fibromyalgia, and psychogenic chagrin (which results from psychological factors) and succeeding suicide death (assessed in fiscal years 2006-2008).

Elevated self-murder risks were observed for each trouble condition except arthritis and neuropathy. When analyses controlled despite accompanying psychiatric conditions, the associations between pain conditions and suicide death were reduced; in whatever manner, significant associations remained for back wretchedness, migraine, and psychogenic pain, the study finds.

"There is a require for increased awareness of suicide peril in individuals with certain noncancer distress diagnoses, in particular back pain, migraine, and psychogenic distress," the study concludes.