title: Suicide mortality among people accessing highly active antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS in British Columbia: a retrospective analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Suicide rates have been reported at elevated levels among people living with HIV/AIDS. We sought to characterize longitudinal suicide rates among people living with HIV/AIDS who are accessing free highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) in British Columbia and evaluate the sociodemographic, clinical and behavioural factors associated with suicide in this population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of all patients in the HAART Observational Medical Evaluation and Research (HOMER) cohort who were 19 years of age and older who started treatment between August 1996 and June 2012. The primary outcome variable was death due to suicide. Data on deaths were obtained monthly through a linkage with the British Columbia Ministry of Health Vital Statistics Agency. Logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify factors independently associated with suicide mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 993 deaths among 5229 patients accessing treatment were recorded, of which 82 (8.2%) were caused by suicide. Death from suicide peaked at 961 deaths per 100 000 person-years in 1998 and declined to 2.81 deaths per 100 000 person-years in 2010. Cox regression analysis showed that a history of injection drug use (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] = 3.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.99-7.86) or having no experience with an AIDS-defining illness (AHR = 4.45, 95% CI 1.62-12.25) were factors independently associated with suicide. This model showed a 51% reduction (AHR = 0.49, 95% CI 0.45-0.54) in the suicide rate per calendar year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Deaths from suicide declined substantially over time, and factors other than progression of HIV disease, such as injection drug use, may be important targets for intervention to reduce suicide risk.
authors.affiliation: BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC.
authors.forename: Jasmine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gurm
authors.affiliation: BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC.
authors.forename: Hasina
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Samji
authors.affiliation: BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nophal
authors.affiliation: BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: The University of British Columbia, Department of Psychiatry, Vancouver, BC.
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Strehlau
authors.affiliation: BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC ; The University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, Vancouver, BC.
authors.forename: Julio S G
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Montaner
authors.affiliation: BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC ; Simon Fraser University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Burnaby, BC.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Hogg
authors.affiliation: BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC ; The University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, Vancouver, BC.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guillemi