title: Suicide and alcoholism. Distinguishing alcoholic patients with and without comorbid drug abuse.
abstract: Psychological autopsy data were used to test the hypothesis that alcoholic patients with comorbid drug use disorders who committed suicide (A + D; n = 26) are distinguishable from alcoholic suicide victims without a comorbid drug use disorder (A; n = 35). Dependent variables included demographics, suicidal behavior; psychiatric symptoms, and medical illness burden. The A group were older, white, and tended to be living alone. Analyses that controlled for age and sex indicated that As were more likely to have had a comorbid major depression and less likely to tell someone they were contemplating suicide. Scores on a measure of illness burden increased with age among the A group but not the A + D group, though the latter were more likely to be under a physician's care with increasing age. These differences should be considered when designing preventive measures.
authors.affiliation: University of Rochester, Department of Psychiatry, NY, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Porsteinsson
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Duberstein
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Conwell
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Forbes
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Caine
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology*; D002423:Cause of Death; D015897:Comorbidity; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D012307:Risk Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology*; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs