Observational studyBMC psychiatry2025
Inverse association between obesity and suicidal death risk.
Observational study in BMC psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSuicide is a significant yet preventable public health issue. Body mass index (BMI) is a readily measurable indicator associated with various health outcomes. However, the relationship between BMI and suicidal death risk is complex and warrants further investigation, particularly within contemporary, non-Western contexts with consideration of potential confounders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between BMI and the risk of suicidal death.
methodsThis study was nationwide, retrospective, observational study based on Korean National Health Insurance Service database. We analyzed 4,045,081 participants who were aged > 19 years and underwent national health surveillance in 2009. The participants were categorized according to their BMI (underweight: < 18.5 kg/m², normal weight: 18.5-23 kg/m², overweight: 23-25 kg/m², class I obesity: 25-30 kg/m², and class II obesity: > 30 kg/m²). The primary outcome was the death events caused by suicide which was defined by International Classification of Disorders (ICD-10) codes (X60-X84) and death records documented by the Korea National Statistical Office. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was performed to estimate the risk of suicidal death with respect to BMI categories after adjusting for potential confounders (age, sex, income, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, drinking, exercise, self-abuse, waist circumference, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorder, cancer, anxiety, and substance use disorder).
resultsUnderweight individuals had an increased risk (hazard ratio [HR] 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.31-1.57) while overweight (HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.76-0.83), class I (HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.71-0.80) and class II obesity (HR 0.71, 95% CI 0.63-0.81) were associated with decreased risks of suicidal deaths compared to those of the normal weight individuals (BMI 18.5-23). This trend was consistent regardless of the presence of major depressive disorder (MDD) or the type of living arrangements of the participants.
conclusionsSuicidal death risk was inversely correlated with BMI categories, independent of MDD or living arrangements. Our data suggests the importance of physiological factors associated with body mass in understanding suicidal death risk. Furthermore, these data provide valuable insights to where the public health resources should be invested to reduce suicidal death rates.
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