Coffee, caffeine, and risk of completed suicide: Results from three prospective cohorts of American adults
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between coffee and caffeine consumption and suicide risk in three large-scale cohorts of US men and women. METHODS: We accessed data of 43,599 men enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS, 1988-2008), 73,820 women in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS, 1992-2008), and 91,005 women in the NHS II (1993-2007). Consumption of caffeine, coffee, and decaffeinated coffee, was assessed every 4 years by validated food-frequency questionnaires. Deaths from suicide were determined by physician review of death certificates. Multivariate adjusted relative risks (RRs) were estimated with Cox proportional hazard models. Cohort specific RRs were pooled using random-effect models. RESULTS: We documented 277 deaths from suicide. Compared to those consuming ≤ 1 cup/week of caffeinated coffee (< 8 oz/237 ml), the pooled multivariate RR (95% confidence interval [CI]) of suicide was 0.55 (0.38-0.78) for those consuming 2-3 cups/day and 0.47 (0.27-0.81) for those consuming ≥ 4 cups/day (P trend < 0.001). The pooled multivariate RR (95% CI) for suicide was 0.75 (0.63-0.90) for each increment of 2 cups/day of caffeinated coffee and 0.77 (0.63-0.93) for each increment of 300 mg/day of caffeine. CONCLUSIONS: These results from three large cohorts support an association between caffeine consumption and lower risk of suicide.
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Caffeine is an adenosine receptor antagonist, and epidemiological studies have shown that intake of caffeine is closely related to the occurrence of suicide and depression.
“Caffeine is an adenosine receptor antagonist, and epidemiological studies have shown that the intake of caffeine is closely related to the occurrence of suicide 99 and depression. 100”
From Major depressive disorder: hypothesis, mechanism, prevention and treatment (2024) · cites this paper as [99]
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- Authors
- Lucas, M., O’Reilly, E. J., Pan, A., Mirzaei, F., Willett, W. C., Okereke, O. I., & Ascherio, A.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ascherio, Alberto
- Venue
- The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2013-07-02
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 377-386
- ISSN
- 1562-2975 (ISSN-L)
- 1814-1412
- PMC
- PMC4213948
- OpenAlex
- W2112194645
- Cited by
- 103
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 6.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Cancer Institute (U19CA055075, P01CA087969, P01CA055075, R01CA050385)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS061858)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Coffee research and impacts
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Keywords
- coffee consumption, caffeine, suicide risk, decaffeinated coffee, caffeine consumption, suicide mortality, prospective cohort, Health Professionals Follow-up Study, Nurses' Health Study, Nurses' Health Study II
- MeSH terms
- Suicide Prevention, Adult, Aged, Caffeine, Coffee, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Suicide, United States
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