Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41151811›Full record

ArticleBMJ mental health2025

Patterns of sex-specific and age-specific risk indicators of suicide: a population-nested case-control study.

Fred Johansson, Lisa Gunnarsson, Leoni Grossmann, David Mataix-Cols, Lorena Fernández de la Cruz, Seena Fazel, Renee M Gardner, Christina Dalman, John Wallert, Christian Rück

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Fred JohanssonCentre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden fredrik.johansson@ki.se.ORCID 0000-0001-9717-0935
Lisa GunnarssonCentre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0009-0001-6636-1840
Leoni GrossmannCentre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0009-0006-1356-1482
David Mataix-ColsCentre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-4545-0924
Lorena Fernández de la CruzCentre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-1571-5485
Seena FazelDeparment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5383-5365
Renee M GardnerDepartment of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-7011-798X
Christina DalmanDepartment of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-3579-2357
John WallertCentre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-1473-4916
Christian RückCentre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-8742-0168

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSuicide is more common among males and in older age, but the understanding of sex-specific and age-specific risk indicators is limited.

objectiveTo describe the sex-specific and age-specific prevalence of 25 suicide risk indicators in the year preceding suicide and estimate their associations with suicide.

methodsRegister-based population-nested case-control study in Sweden, 2009-2021, comprising 19 741 suicide cases and 197 296 general population controls matched by sex, age and county of residence. Death by suicide was collected from the cause of death register. 25 suicide risk indicators covering psychiatric history, somatic disorders, bereavement and sociodemographic factors in the previous year were collected from nationwide registers. Sex-specific and age-specific ORs of suicide for the presence/absence of each risk indicator in the prior year were estimated and complemented by risk differences.

findingsSuicide cases were 70% male, 9% were aged 15-24 years, 29% 25-44 years, 36% 45-64 years and 26% 65+ years. In the year preceding suicide, the prevalence of most risk indicators was the lowest among males and people aged 65+ years. Most risk indicators also showed weaker 1-year associations with suicide in these groups. The median OR (IQR) of suicide across the 25 risk indicators was 14.6 (5.2, 29.1) in females versus 10.3 (4.3, 21.3) in males, and 17.4 (6.5, 28.9) in 24-44 year-olds versus 8.0 (3.6, 23.7) in people aged 65+years. Risk differences of suicide were larger in males across nearly all risk indicators.

conclusionsThere was considerable heterogeneity across sex and age groups, both in the prevalence of risk indicators preceding suicide and in their associations with suicide. Risk indicators were generally less common and displayed weaker associations with suicide on the relative risk scale among males and older people. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Suicides in males and older people may be harder to predict, as indicators are rarer. When males present with risk indicators, they generally have a higher absolute risk of suicide, making them important targets for prevention even when risk indicators do not cause suicide. Our findings underscore the importance of considering sex-specific and age-specific risk indicators for individualised suicide prediction and prevention.

Indexed as

SuicideAdolescentAdultAgedAge FactorsCase-Control StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrevalenceRegistriesRisk FactorsSex FactorsSwedenYoung AdultPsychiatry

Identifiers

PMID41151811
PMCPMC12570955

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.