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Cited by 352Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesHomicide, Infanticide, and Child AbuseMental Health Treatment and Access

Suicide risk in relation to family history of completed suicide and psychiatric disorders: a nested case-control study based on longitudinal registers

Qin, Ping, Agerbo, Esben, Mortensen, Preben Bo·2002·The Lancet
DOI 10.1016/s0140-6736(02)11197-4
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Abstract

Background Familial clustering of suicidal behaviour has been well documented. We aimed to assess whether family history of completed suicide and mental illness that results in admission to hospital are risk factors for suicide, and whether these factors interact.Methods We did a nested case-control study using data from Danish longitudinal registers. We included 4262 people who had committed suicide aged 9-45 years during 1981-97 (cases), and 80238 population-based controls matched for age, sex, and date of suicide. Suicide and psychiatric history of parents and siblings and socioeconomic, demographic, and psychiatric data for every case were retrieved and merged. Data were analysed with conditional logistic regression.Findings A family history of completed suicide and psychiatric illness significantly and independently increased suicide risk (odds ratio 2.58 [95% CI 1.84-3.61] and 1.31 [1.19-1.45], respectively). These effects were not accounted for by the socioeconomic status and psychiatric history of cases. A history of family psychiatric illness significantly raised suicide risk only in people without a history of psychiatric illness (1.55 [1.38-1.75]), whereas a family history of suicide increased suicide risk irrespective of psychiatric illness (2.37 [1.11-5.09] and 2.66 [1.82-3.88]) for people with and without a psychiatric history, respectively.Interpretation Completed suicide and psychiatric illness in relatives are risk factors for suicide, and the effect of family suicide history is independent of the familial cluster of mental disorders. Family history of suicide should be established in the assessment of suicide risk.

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  • Research has largely focused on suicide risk among bereaved relatives, though less is known about how many people are exposed and need support in the broader household or about their overall mortality risk from nonsuicide causes.

    “Research has largely focused on suicide risk among bereaved relatives,2,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25 though less is known about how many people are exposed and need support in the broader household19 or about their overall mortality risk from nonsuicide causes.9,26,27,28”

    From Mortality Risk Following a Household Suicide (2025) · cites this paper as [21]

  • Most evidence comes from high-income countries, where more robust health systems may buffer harms.

    “Most evidence comes from high-income countries,2,9,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,26,27,28 where more robust health systems may buffer harms.”

    From Mortality Risk Following a Household Suicide (2025) · cites this paper as [21]

  • The 442% increased risk of suicide observed in this study exceeds estimates from high-income countries such as Denmark (RR, 2.58; 95% CI, 1.84-3.61) and South Korea (RR, 2.75; 95% CI, 2.55-2.97).

    “The 442% increased risk of suicide observed in this study exceeds estimates from high-income countries such as Denmark (RR, 2.58; 95% CI, 1.84-3.61)21 and South Korea (RR, 2.75; 95% CI, 2.55-2.97),16”

    From Mortality Risk Following a Household Suicide (2025) · cites this paper as [21]

  • There is robust evidence from large population-based and case-control studies of increased suicide risk in adolescents related to aggregation of suicide in families, specifically parental suicide.

    “there is robust evidence from large population-based (Agerbo, Nordentoft, & Mortensen, 2002;Niederkrotenthaler, Floderus, Alexanderson, Rasmussen, & Mittendorfer-Rutz, 2012;Qin et al., 2002;Wilcox et al., 2010) and case-control studies (Cheng et al., 2014) of increased suicide risk in adolescents related to aggregation of suicide in families, specifically parental suicide”

    From Pre- and postloss features of adolescent suicide bereavement: A systematic review (2016) · cites this paper as Qin et al., 2002

  • Odds ratios analyses indicate a two-fold to three-fold risk of offspring suicide, independent of family history of psychopathology.

    “Odds ratios analyses indicate a two-fold (Qin et al., 2002;Wilcox et al., 2010) to three-fold (Niederkrotenthaler et al., 2012) risk of offspring suicide, independent of family history of psychopathology.”

    From Pre- and postloss features of adolescent suicide bereavement: A systematic review (2016) · cites this paper as Qin et al., 2002

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Authors
Qin, P., Agerbo, E., & Mortensen, P. B.
Affiliations
Aarhus University (DK)
Corresponding author
Qin, Ping
ORCID
Venue
The Lancet
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2002-10
Volume
360
Issue
9340
Pages
1126-1130
ISSN
  • 0099-5355 (ISSN-L)
  • 0140-6736
DOI
10.1016/s0140-6736(02)11197-4
OpenAlex
W2122903417
Cited by
352
References
28
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 15
FWCI
8.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • The Lancet (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Danmarks Grundforskningsfond
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
Keywords
suicide risk, family history of suicide, mental illness, suicide risk factors, suicide risk assessment, parental mental illness, siblings, socioeconomic status
MeSH terms
Suicide Prevention, Adolescent, Adult, Mental Disorders, Cause of Death, Child, Denmark, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Patient Admission, Risk, Suicide, Cluster Analysis, Logistic Models, Case-Control Studies, Genetic Predisposition to Disease

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