Citation

Porsteinsson A, Duberstein PR, Conwell Y, Cox C, Forbes N, Caine ED. Am. J. Addict. 1997; 6(4): 304-310.

Affiliation

University of Rochester, Department of Psychiatry, NY, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9398928

Abstract

Psychological autopsy data were used to test the hypothesis that alcoholic patients with comorbid drug use disorders who committed suicide (A + D; n = 26) are distinguishable from alcoholic suicide victims without a comorbid drug use disorder (A; n = 35). Dependent variables included demographics, suicidal behavior; psychiatric symptoms, and medical illness burden. The A group were older, white, and tended to be living alone. Analyses that controlled for age and sex indicated that As were more likely to have had a comorbid major depression and less likely to tell someone they were contemplating suicide. Scores on a measure of illness burden increased with age among the A group but not the A + D group, though the latter were more likely to be under a physician's care with increasing age. These differences should be considered when designing preventive measures.

Language: en