Risk factors for suicide behaviors in the observational schizophrenia outpatient health outcomes (SOHO) study

BACKGROUND: To identify risk factors for suicide using data from a large, 3-year, multinational follow-up study of schizophrenia (SOHO study). METHODS: Baseline characteristics of 8,871 adult patients with schizophrenia were included in a logistic regression post-hoc analysis comparing patients who attempted and/or committed suicide during the study with those who did not. RESULTS: 384 (4.3%) patients attempted or committed suicide. Completed suicides were 27 (0.3%). The significant risk factors for suicide behaviors were previous suicidality, depressive symptoms, prolactin-related adverse events, male gender and history of hospitalization for schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: In view of the observational design of the study and the post-hoc nature of the analysis, the identified risk factors should be confirmed by ad-hoc specifically designed studies.