Citation

Niehaus DJ, Laurent C, Jordaan E, Koen L, Oosthuizen P, Keyter N, Muller JE, Mbanga NI, Deleuze JF, Mallet J, Stein DJ, Emsley R. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2004; 34(3): 320-327.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1521/suli.34.3.320.42778

PMID

15385186

Abstract

This study investigated demographic variables, including affected sibling pair status, as risk factors for suicidal behavior in schizophrenia patients of African (Xhosa) descent. Xhosa subjects with schizophrenia were interviewed with the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies (DIGS) and then stratified into two groups: those with ( n = 90) and those without ( n = 364) a history of previous suicide attempts. Demographic parameters (including gender, age, and social circumstances, sib ship) were then compared across these groups. Demographic predictors of suicide included sib ship status ( p = 0.038; OR = 1.7) and age of onset of illness ( p = 0.008; OR = 2.5). On further analysis of suicide in siblings, only a minority of sib pairs was found to be concordant for a lifetime history of suicide attempts (3%). These findings raise the possibility that affected sib pair status may be protective in nature. Given the counter-intuitive nature of this finding, further work is needed to replicate it, and to explore possible underlying mechanisms.