Differing correlates for suicide attempts among patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder in India and USA.
BACKGROUND
Suicide is one of the most common causes of death among persons with schizophrenia. Differing risk factors have been identified in published studies. The differences may have arisen because a uniform set of variables was not analyzed. Alternatively, the nature and effect of risk factors may vary in different settings. To test these possibilities, we investigated the same set of variables in two independent cross-national samples ascertained using identical protocols.


METHODS
Patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (DSM IV criteria) were recruited in India (n=460) and the USA (n=424).


RESULTS
Consistent with earlier publications, a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, history of depression, pattern of symptoms and educational status were significantly associated with suicide attempts in the US sample. None of these variables were significantly associated in the Indian sample.


CONCLUSIONS
The impact of known risk factors for suicide attempts among patients with schizophrenia differs across ethnic groups.
Bhatia
Triptish
T
Indo-US Projects on Schizophrenia Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, India.
Thomas
Pramod
P
Semwal
Prachi
P
Thelma
B K
BK
Nimgaonkar
V L
VL
Deshpande
Smita N
SN
D000328:Adult; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013406:Suicide, Attempted; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology