Circumstances of suicide among individuals with a history of cancer
Open accessAbstract
Objective: Cancer can trigger psychological distress, which may be associated with risk of suicide. We explored precipitating circumstances of suicides among decedents with and without a history of cancer. Methods: Coroner or medical examiner and law enforcement narratives of adult suicides were coded from 17 participating states in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Violent Death Reporting System during 2004 to 2013. Bivariate and multivariate analyses examined associations between cancer history and factors that precipitated suicide. Results: Of 90 581 suicides, 4182 decedents (4.6%) had a history of cancer. Significantly more decedents with a history of cancer (versus without) were male, non‐Hispanic white, married, veterans, and aged 55 or older (P < .001). Decedents with a history of cancer were more likely to die of suicide by firearm and less likely to die of suicide by suffocation compared to poisoning. In matched case analyses controlling for demographic and recent circumstances, fewer decedents with a history of cancer had mental health problems, history of suicide attempts, alcohol use problems, intimate partner problems, financial problems, job problems, and recent crisis. Conclusions: Findings highlight the potential to identify high‐risk populations for suicide prevention in clinical practice.
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In the USA in 2018, 24,432 of 48,344 suicides were carried out by firearms.
“In the USA in 2018, 24,432 of 48,344 suicides were carried out by firearms 45 .”
From Suicide risk and mortality among patients with cancer (2022) · cites this paper as [45]
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- Authors
- Massetti, G. M., Holland, K. M., Jack, S. P. D., Ragan, K. R., & Lunsford, N. B.
- Affiliations
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
- Corresponding author
- Massetti, Greta M.
- Venue
- Psycho-Oncology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2018-04-23
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1750-1756
- ISSN
- 1057-9249 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-1611
- PMC
- PMC6063079
- OpenAlex
- W2795814093
- Cited by
- 22
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 2.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- Locations
- Psycho-Oncology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Keywords
- suicide, cancer history, suicide risk factors, psychological distress, suicide methods, firearm suicide, suicide by poisoning, suicide attempts, mental illness, alcohol use problems, financial problems, employment problems, suicide prevention, National Violent Death Reporting System
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasms, Stress, Psychological, Suicide, United States, Young Adult
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