Substance misuse in life and death in a 2-year cohort of suicides

Karen Galway; Diana Gossrau-Breen; Sharon Mallon; Lynette Hughes; Michael Rosato; Janeet Rondon-Sulbaran; Gerry Leavey

doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.114.147603

Substance misuse in life and death in a 2-year cohort of suicides

Karen Galway, Diana Gossrau-Breen, Sharon Mallon, Lynette Hughes, Michael Rosato, Janeet Rondon-Sulbaran, Gerry Leavey

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

345 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background: Although substance misuse is a key risk factor in suicide, relatively little is known about the relationship between lifetime misuse and misuse at the time of suicide.

Aims: To examine the relationship between substance misuse and subsequent suicide.

Method: Linkage of coroners' reports to primary care records for 403 suicides occurring over 2 years.

Results: With alcohol misuse, 67% of the cohort had previously sought help for alcohol problems and 39% were intoxicated at the time of suicide. Regarding misuse of other substances, 54% of the cohort was tested. Almost one in four (38%) tested positive, defined as an excess of drugs over the prescribed therapeutic dosage and/or detection of illicit substances. Those tested were more likely to be young and have a history of drug misuse.

Conclusions: A deeper understanding of the relationship between substance misuse and suicide could contribute to prevention initiatives. Furthermore, standardised toxicology screening processes would avoid diminishing the importance of psychosocial factors involved in suicide as a 'cause of death'.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	292
Number of pages	6
Journal	The British Journal of Psychiatry
Volume	208
Issue number	3
Early online date	11 May 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.114.147603
Publication status	Published - Nov 2015

Keywords

Mental health
suicide
help-seeking
alcohol
drugs
substance misuse

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1192/bjp.bp.114.147603

Substance misuse in life and death in a 2-year cohort of suicides
© 2015 The Royal College of Psychiatrists This is an author-produced electronic version of an article accepted for publication in the British Journal of Psychiatry. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at http://bjp.rcpsych.org.
Accepted author manuscript, 202 KB

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Karen Galway
- k.galway@qub.ac.uk
- School of Nursing and Midwifery - Senior Lecturer
- Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation
Person: Academic

Cite this

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title = "Substance misuse in life and death in a 2-year cohort of suicides",

abstract = "Background: Although substance misuse is a key risk factor in suicide, relatively little is known about the relationship between lifetime misuse and misuse at the time of suicide.Aims: To examine the relationship between substance misuse and subsequent suicide.Method: Linkage of coroners' reports to primary care records for 403 suicides occurring over 2 years.Results: With alcohol misuse, 67% of the cohort had previously sought help for alcohol problems and 39% were intoxicated at the time of suicide. Regarding misuse of other substances, 54% of the cohort was tested. Almost one in four (38%) tested positive, defined as an excess of drugs over the prescribed therapeutic dosage and/or detection of illicit substances. Those tested were more likely to be young and have a history of drug misuse.Conclusions: A deeper understanding of the relationship between substance misuse and suicide could contribute to prevention initiatives. Furthermore, standardised toxicology screening processes would avoid diminishing the importance of psychosocial factors involved in suicide as a 'cause of death'.",

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AU - Galway, Karen

AU - Gossrau-Breen, Diana

AU - Mallon, Sharon

AU - Hughes, Lynette

AU - Rosato, Michael

AU - Rondon-Sulbaran, Janeet

AU - Leavey, Gerry

PY - 2015/11

Y1 - 2015/11

N2 - Background: Although substance misuse is a key risk factor in suicide, relatively little is known about the relationship between lifetime misuse and misuse at the time of suicide.Aims: To examine the relationship between substance misuse and subsequent suicide.Method: Linkage of coroners' reports to primary care records for 403 suicides occurring over 2 years.Results: With alcohol misuse, 67% of the cohort had previously sought help for alcohol problems and 39% were intoxicated at the time of suicide. Regarding misuse of other substances, 54% of the cohort was tested. Almost one in four (38%) tested positive, defined as an excess of drugs over the prescribed therapeutic dosage and/or detection of illicit substances. Those tested were more likely to be young and have a history of drug misuse.Conclusions: A deeper understanding of the relationship between substance misuse and suicide could contribute to prevention initiatives. Furthermore, standardised toxicology screening processes would avoid diminishing the importance of psychosocial factors involved in suicide as a 'cause of death'.

AB - Background: Although substance misuse is a key risk factor in suicide, relatively little is known about the relationship between lifetime misuse and misuse at the time of suicide.Aims: To examine the relationship between substance misuse and subsequent suicide.Method: Linkage of coroners' reports to primary care records for 403 suicides occurring over 2 years.Results: With alcohol misuse, 67% of the cohort had previously sought help for alcohol problems and 39% were intoxicated at the time of suicide. Regarding misuse of other substances, 54% of the cohort was tested. Almost one in four (38%) tested positive, defined as an excess of drugs over the prescribed therapeutic dosage and/or detection of illicit substances. Those tested were more likely to be young and have a history of drug misuse.Conclusions: A deeper understanding of the relationship between substance misuse and suicide could contribute to prevention initiatives. Furthermore, standardised toxicology screening processes would avoid diminishing the importance of psychosocial factors involved in suicide as a 'cause of death'.

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KW - help-seeking

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Substance misuse in life and death in a 2-year cohort of suicides

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Karen Galway

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