Patients diagnosed with dementia before 65 years of age “younger-onset dementia” are at greater risk for suicide, according to findings of a study published in JAMA Neurology.¹

Researchers from the UK sought to examine the association between a dementia diagnosis and suicide risk in the general population and to identify high-risk subgroups. For this they obtained data from electronic health records of 594,674 patients aged ≥15 years with a diagnosis of dementia from primary and secondary healthcare databases from 2001 to 2019.

Out of the 594,674 patients screened, 4940 adults were diagnosed with dementia. Of these, 95 patients (~2%) died by suicide. Overall the association between suicide risk and dementia was not significant (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.05). But compared to those who did not have dementia, patient who had been diagnosed with dementia before 65 years of age were nearly 3-folds more likely to die by suicide with aOR of 2.82., the risk of suicide was observed to double in the first three months after the diagnosis (aOR 2.47). Patients with dementia and a psychiatric comorbidity were also at high risk of suicide (aOR 1.52). The risk of suicide was increased nearly 7 times among patients younger than 65 years diagnosed with dementia and who were within the first 3 months of diagnosis compared to patients who did not have dementia (aOR 6.69). The age at death was younger among dementia patients who died by suicide versus those who died of other causes; 79.7 years vs 87.9 years, respectively.

This study has described three groups of patients with dementia, which are at high risk of suicide. It also underscores the need for the treating clinician to be aware of this risk and carry out simultaneous targeted suicide risk assessment of patients diagnosed with dementia followed by appropriate referral to mental health services.

Reference

1. Alothman D, et al. Risk of suicide after dementia diagnosis. JAMA Neurol. 2022 Oct 3. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.3094