%0 Journal Article
%T Suicide deaths of active-duty US military and omega-3 fatty-acid status: A case-control comparison
%J Journal of clinical psychiatry
%D 2011
%A Lewis, Michael D.
%A Hibbeln, Joseph R.
%A Johnson, Jeremiah E.
%A Lin, Yu Hong
%A Hyun, Duk Y.
%A Loewke, James D.
%V 72
%N 12
%P 1585-1590
%X BACKGROUND: The recent escalation of US military suicide deaths to record numbers has been a sentinel for impaired force efficacy and has accelerated the search for reversible risk factors. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether deficiencies of neuroactive, highly unsaturated omega-3 essential fatty acids (n-3 HUFAs), in particular docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are associated with increased risk of suicide death among a large random sample of active-duty US military. METHOD: In this retrospective case-control study, serum fatty acids were quantified as a percentage of total fatty acids among US military suicide deaths (n = 800) and controls (n = 800) matched for age, date of collection of sera, sex, rank, and year of incident. Participants were active-duty US military personnel (2002-2008). For cases, age at death ranged from 17-59 years (mean = 27.3 years, SD = 7.3 years). Outcome measures included death by suicide, postdeployment health assessment questionnaire (Department of Defense Form 2796), and ICD-9 mental health diagnosis data. RESULTS: Risk of suicide death was 14% higher per SD of lower DHA percentage (OR = 1.14; 95% CI, 1.02-1.27; P < .03) in adjusted logistic regressions. Among men, risk of suicide death was 62% greater with low serum DHA status (adjusted OR = 1.62; 95% CI, 1.12-2.34; P < .01, comparing DHA below 1.75% [n = 1,389] to DHA of 1.75% and above [n = 141]). Risk of suicide death was 52% greater in those who reported having seen wounded, dead, or killed coalition personnel (OR = 1.52; 95% CI, 1.11-2.09; P < .01). CONCLUSION: This US military population had a very low and narrow range of n-3 HUFA status. Although these data suggest that low serum DHA may be a risk factor for suicide, well-designed intervention trials are needed to evaluate causality.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
%G en
%I Physicians Postgraduate Press
%@ 0160-6689
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.4088/JCP.11m06879