title: Suicide in a National Student Mental Health Patient Population, 1997-2012.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Entering higher education is a time of transition that coincides with the typical age of onset of serious mental illness. Awareness of the distinguishing characteristics of students with mental illness who die by suicide may inform clinical management.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to compare the characteristics of mental health patients who died by suicide as students with other young people who died by suicide.
  
  
  METHODS
  UK data were analyzed for individuals aged 18-35 years in contact with mental health services who died by suicide from 1997 to 2012. Univariate analyses examined the sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical features of those who died as students. Backward stepwise regression analysis identified factors independently associated with student deaths.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all, 214 university students died by suicide within 12 months of mental health service contact. Factors associated with student deaths were: being younger, female, from an ethnic minority group, and a primary diagnosis of affective disorder. Medication nonadherence was less likely to be associated with student deaths.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Deaths by suicide are split almost equally between male and female students, unlike the predominance of male suicide in the general population. There are clear differences in the characteristics of the student and nonstudent groups, although causation could not be established.
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre for Mental Health and Safety, Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, University of Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Suhanthini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Farrell
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre for Mental Health and Safety, Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, University of Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Nav
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kapur
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre for Mental Health and Safety, Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, University of Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: While
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre for Mental Health and Safety, Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, University of Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Appleby
authors.affiliation: 1 Centre for Mental Health and Safety, Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, University of Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Windfuhr
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: mental health services; mental illness; suicide; suicide prevention; university students