Key result
Individuals in the lowest tertile of serum total cholesterol (<188 mg/dl) had a significantly higher risk of suicide death compared to those in the highest tertile (OR 4.68).
Why the study?
To investigate the association between suicide death and serum cholesterol levels measured at times close to suicide death.
Is low serum total cholesterol associated with an increased risk of suicide death in Japanese workers?
Case-Control (n=246)
Yes
Is low serum total cholesterol associated with an increased risk of suicide death in Japanese workers?
Low serum total cholesterol levels in the recent past are associated with a significantly increased risk of suicide death in Japanese workers.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Low cholesterol may flag suicide risk; this Level 3 finding leaves open causality and should not change practice.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between suicide death and serum cholesterol levels as measured at times close to suicide death. METHODS: We conducted a nested case-control study of 41 cases of suicide deaths and 205 matched controls with serum total cholesterol (TC) levels till 3 years before suicide death in a large cohort of Japanese workers. RESULTS: Individuals in the lowest versus highest tertile/predefined category of TC in a Japanese working population had a three- to four-fold greater risk of suicide death. Each 10 mg/dl decrement of average TC was associated with an 18% increased chance of suicide death (95% confidence interval, 2-35%). Similar results were found for TC levels at each year. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that a low serum TC level in recent past is associated with an increased risk of suicide death.
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Chen et al. (2019) conducted a case-control in Suicide death (n=246). Lowest tertile of serum total cholesterol (<188 mg/dl) vs. Highest tertile of serum total cholesterol (≥217 mg/dl) was evaluated on Suicide death (OR 4.68, 95% CI 1.67-13.14, p=0.003). Individuals in the lowest tertile of serum total cholesterol (<188 mg/dl) had a significantly higher risk of suicide death compared to those in the highest tertile (OR 4.68).
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