Chen et al reported risk factors for suicide in a patient with Parkinson's disease. This can help to identify a patient who may need additional support. The authors are from multiple institutions in Taiwan and France.
Patient selection: Parkinson's disease
The risk of suicide for a patient with Parkinson's disease was double that of the control population. The actual rate may be higher since not all suicides are recognized as such. Of interest the rate of suicide in East Asian countries is 3-4 times that of the general population.
Patients who committed suicide did so at a "younger" age (mean age of suicide patients was 74 years vs 76 years for control group).
Risk factors for suicide:
(1) depression (HR 4.3)
(2) other mental disorders (HR 4.5)
Risk factors for suicide with hazard ratio less than 2:
(1) greater comorbidity by the Charlson Comorbidity Index (HR 1.5 for CCI >= 2)
(2) male gender (HR 1.7)
(3) residence classified as low urbanization (HR 1.3)
Jumping was the most common cause of suicide in the study population.
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