• Willi Oberaigner, Barbara Sperner-Unterweger, Michael Fiegl, Sabine Geiger-Gritsch, and Christian Haring.
• Department of Clinical Epidemiology of the Tyrolean State Hospitals Ltd., Cancer Registry of Tyrol, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria; Department of Public Health and HTA, UMIT, Hall/Tyrol, Austria. Electronic address: willi.oberaigner@iet.at.
• Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2014 Sep 1; 36 (5): 483-7.

ObjectivesTo investigate whether suicide risk in Tyrol/Austria was increased for cancer patients as compared to the general population and whether subgroups at excess risk could be defined.Study Design And SettingCohort design based on all malignant cancer cases diagnosed in Tyrol between 1991 and 2010 and excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer. Entry date was date of diagnosis of the index cancer; exit date was either date of suicide or date of death for reasons other than suicide or end of follow-up (Dec 31, 2011). Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were computed in the classical way after adjustment for sex, age and year of follow-up.ResultsFor all cancer sites except nonmelanoma skin cancer, we observed a SMR of 1.86 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.57-2.19]. Suicide risk was greatest during the first 6 months after diagnosis with an SMR of 4.74 (95% CI, 3.27-6.66) and was more than fivefold in cases with advanced Stage IV. We observed the greatest excess risk for suicide in patients with head and neck cancers (13 suicides; SMR, 4.73; 95% CI, 2.52-8.09) and lung cancer (14 suicides; SMR, 4.16; 95% CI, 2.27-6.98).ConclusionIn our study population in Tyrol/Austria, we observed a twofold suicide risk in cancer patients as compared with the general population, with the excess risk concentrated in the period shortly after diagnosis and in patients with poor prognosis. Therefore, psychooncological care should be intensified in this group of patients.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

18 keywords...

hide…