title: Suicide after surgical treatment in patients with epilepsy: a meta-analytic investigation.
abstract: Suicide is a major issue in surgically treated epileptic patients. A meta-analysis was performed comparing suicides in a sample of such patients and in the general population. The Index Medicus and the World Health Statistics Annual were searched to ascertain the suicide rates in the age groups indicated in the studies of epileptic patients for specific years and country. 11 studies were selected, comprising 2,425 patients, 24 of whom committed suicide. Data obtained for each study were processed together to calculate the mean number of suicides per 100,000 individuals with surgically treated epilepsy for each year. This meta-analysis shows that suicide in patients with epilepsy after surgical treatment is more frequent than in the general population. Results are discussed with particular attention to possible causative factors.
authors.affiliation: McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, Massachusetts, USA. maurizio.pompili@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pompili
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Girardi
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tatarelli
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Angeletti
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tatarelli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors