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Cited by 639Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesOpioid Use Disorder TreatmentMusculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation

Suicidality in chronic pain: a review of the prevalence, risk factors and psychological links

TANG, NICOLE K. Y., CRANE, CATHERINE·2006·Psychological Medicine
DOI 10.1017/s0033291705006859
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Abstract

Background. This paper reviews and integrates the growing literature concerning the prevalence of and risk factors for suicidality in chronic pain. Method. A series of systematic searches in MEDLINE and PsychINFO identified 12 relevant articles examining suicide, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideation in chronic pain. A selection of theoretical and empirical work identifying psychological processes that have been implicated in both the pain and suicide literature and which may be related to increased suicidality was also reviewed. Results. Relative to controls, risk of death by suicide appeared to be at least doubled in chronic pain patients. The lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts was between 5% and 14% in individuals with chronic pain, with the prevalence of suicidal ideation being ~20%. Eight risk factors for suicidality in chronic pain were identified, including the type, intensity and duration of pain and sleep-onset insomnia co-occuring with pain, which appeared to be pain-specific. Helplessness and hopelessness about pain, the desire for escape from pain, pain catastrophizing and avoidance, and problem-solving deficits were highlighted as psychological processes relevant to the understanding of suicidality in chronic pain. Conclusions. Programmatic research is urgently required to investigate the role of both general and pain-specific risk factors for suicidality, to examine how the psychological processes mentioned above mediate or exacerbate suicidality, and to develop enhanced interventions for pain patients at risk.

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  • Chronic pain was associated with increased risk of suicide mortality, and rates of suicidal ideation and attempts were higher in individuals with pain than those without.

    “Tang and Crane88 reported that CP was associated with increased risk of suicide mortality and that rates of suicidal ideation and attempts were higher in individuals with pain than those without.”

    From <p>Pain and Evil: From Local Nociception to Misery Following Social Harm</p> (2020) · cites this paper as [88]

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Authors
TANG, N. K. Y., & CRANE, C.
Affiliations
  • King's College London (GB)
  • University of Oxford (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Psychological Medicine
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2006-01-18
Volume
36
Issue
5
Pages
575-586
ISSN
  • 0033-2917 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-8978
DOI
10.1017/s0033291705006859
OpenAlex
W2147396279
Cited by
639
References
67
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 51 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 43 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 45 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 36 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 30
FWCI
15.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified)
Locations
  • Psychological Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust (GR 067797)
  • Croucher Foundation
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
Keywords
suicidality, chronic pain, suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, suicide risk factors, pain catastrophizing, helplessness and hopelessness, insomnia, problem-solving deficits, suicide prevention interventions
MeSH terms
Suicide Prevention, Chronic Disease, Humans, Pain, Risk Factors, Suicide, Comorbidity, Prevalence

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