Suicide among cancer patients.
retrospective_cohort · Level III
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30643135.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-08170-1 and PMC identifier 6331593.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Our purpose is to identify cancer patients at highest risk of suicide compared to the general population and other cancer patients. This is a retrospective, population-based study using nationally representative data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program, 1973-2014. Among 8,651,569 cancer patients, 13,311 committed suicide; the rate of suicide was 28.58/ 100,000-person years, and the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of suicide was 4.44 (95% CI, 4.33, 4.55). The predominant patients who committed suicide were male (83%) and white (92%). Cancers of the lung, head and neck, testes, bladder, and Hodgkin lymphoma had the highest SMRs ( > 5-10) through the follow up period. Elderly, white, unmarried males with localized disease are at highest risk vs other cancer patients. Among those diagnosed at < 50 years of age, the plurality of suicides is from hematologic and testicular tumors; if > 50, from prostate, lung, and colorectal cancer patients.
Medical subject headings
- Mortality
- Neoplasms
- SEER Program
- Suicide
- Survivorship