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Suicide in 406 mood-disorder patients with and without long-term medication: a 40 to 44 years' follow-up.

Angst J, Angst F, Gerber-Werder R, Gamma A

Zurich University Psychiatric Hospital, Switzerland. jangst@bli.unizh.ch

There is no data on the variation in the suicide risk over lifetime and on the suicide-preventive effect of the long-term treatment of mood-disorder patients with antidepressants and neuroleptics. Our research focused on 186 unipolar (D), 60 bipolar II (Dm), 130 nuclear bipolar I (MD), and 30 preponderantly manic patients (M/Md); that were followed-up from 1963 to 2003. By 2003, 45 (11.1%) of the 406 patients had committed suicide. Suicide rates were highest among D patients (Standardized Mortality Ratio, SMR = 26.4), MD (SMR = 13.6), Dm (SMR = 10.6) and lowest among M/Md patients (SMR = 4.7). Prospectively, the suicide rate decreased over the 44 years' follow-up; Lithium, neuroleptics and antidepressants reduced suicides significantly. Long-term treatment also reduced overall mortality, and combined treatments proved more effective than mono-therapy.

Published 15 July 2005 in Arch Suicide Res, 9(3): 279-300.
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