Citation

Kittel JA, Bishop TM, Ashrafioun L. Gen. Hosp. Psychiatry 2019; 60: 6-11.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, 300 Crittenden Blvd, Rochester, NY 14642, United States of America; VA VISN 2 Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention, Canandaigua VA Medical Center, Canandaigua, NY, United States of America. Electronic address: Lisham.ashrafiou@va.gov.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2019.06.011

PMID

31284001

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Prevalence of suicide continues to present a major public health problem, particularly among women. Identifying risk factors for suicide is vital to reduce the number of suicide deaths per year. Alcohol use is a well-known risk factor for suicidal behavior, but the association between binge drinking and suicide attempts across genders is less clear.

METHODS: The current study used combined 2008-2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data (n = 269,078) to examine the association between binge drinking and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts across sex.

RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses revealed that binge drinking was associated with suicide attempts in females (OR = 1.37, 95% CI: 1.09-1.73) but not in males (OR = 1.07, 95% CI: 0.80-1.43). Binge drinking was not associated with suicidal ideation in either males or females.

CONCLUSIONS: Identifying and addressing binge drinking in women may be useful as part of a suicide prevention strategy.

Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Language: en

Keywords

Alcohol; Binge drinking; Sex; Suicide