What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Cohort. Population: Suicide (n=389365). Intervention: Neuroticism vs. Lower neuroticism. Primary outcome: Suicide deaths (men) (HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.09-1.22, p=<0.001).

March 1, 2018Open Access

Neuroticism and suicide in a general population cohort: results from the UK Biobank Project

Q: What are the key findings of this study?

Neuroticism increased the risk of suicide in both men (HR 1.15) and women (HR 1.16) in a general population cohort followed for up to 10 years.

Key Result

Neuroticism increased the risk of suicide in both men (HR 1.15) and women (HR 1.16) in a general population cohort followed for up to 10 years.

Study Design

Type

Cohort (n=389,365)

Multicenter

Yes

Structured PICO

Does high neuroticism increase the risk of suicide in a general adult population?

Population

389,365 adults aged 40 to 69 years from the UK general population were followed for up to 10 years to assess the association between neuroticism and suicide deaths.

Exposure

High neuroticism (measured via the 12-item neuroticism subscale from the short form of the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire)

Comparator

Lower levels of neuroticism

Outcome

Suicide deaths (established through linkage with mortality data, ICD-10 codes X60-84, Y10-34, Y87.0)hard clinical

Neuroticism is an independent risk factor for suicide in both men and women, suggesting that screening for neuroticism may be useful for early suicide prevention.

Main Result

Hazard Ratio: 1.15 (95% CI 1.09–1.22)

p-value: p=<0.001

Limitations

Clinical psychiatric diagnoses were available for only a smaller subset of participants.
Restricted age range of participants (40 to 69 years) limits generalizability across the lifespan.
Unable to control for other aspects of personality.
Alcohol use variable only assessed frequency of consumption, not disordered patterns.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Neuroticism has often been linked to suicidal thoughts and behaviour. AIMS: To examine whether neuroticism is associated with suicide deaths after adjusting for known risks. METHOD: = 389 365) were assessed for neuroticism as well as social, demographic and health-related variables at study entry and followed for up to 10 years. Suicide risk was modelled using Cox regression stratified by gender. RESULTS: Neuroticism increased the risk of suicide in both men (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.15, 95% CI 1.09-1.22) and women (HR = 1.16, 95% CI 1.06-1.27). In a subsample who were assessed for mood disorders, neuroticism remained a significant predictor for women (HR 1.25, 95% CI 1.03-1.51) but not for men. CONCLUSIONS: Screening and therapeutic interventions for neuroticism may be important for early suicide prevention. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: None.

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