Familial Coaggregation of Suicide, Accidental Death, and Major Psychiatric Disorders in First-Degree Relatives of Individuals Dying Accidentally

Mu-Hong Chen; Shih-Jen Tsai; Chih-Ming Cheng; Wen-Han Chang; Ya-Mei Bai; Tung-Ping Su; Tzeng-Ji Chen

doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2024.06.014

Familial Coaggregation of Suicide, Accidental Death, and Major Psychiatric Disorders in First-Degree Relatives of Individuals Dying Accidentally

Mayo Clin Proc. 2024 Sep 6:S0025-6196(24)00320-3. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2024.06.014. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Mu-Hong Chen¹, Shih-Jen Tsai², Chih-Ming Cheng², Wen-Han Chang³, Ya-Mei Bai², Tung-Ping Su⁴, Tzeng-Ji Chen⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: kremer7119@gmail.com.
² Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, General Cheng Hsin Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute of Hospital and Health Care Administration, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Hsinchu Branch, Hsinchu, Taiwan.

PMID: 39352332
DOI: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2024.06.014

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the risks of suicide, accidental death, and major psychiatric disorders in first-degree relatives (FDRs) of people who die accidentally. Evidence has shown that the endophenotypes of impulsivity and risk-taking are known to coaggregate with major psychiatric disorders, suicide, and accidental deaths within families.

Methods: In total, 136,011 FDRs of individuals who died from accidents and 544,044 individuals matched for age and sex who served as a control group were included in the present study. The relative risks of accidental death and suicide were assessed between these groups. Differences in the frequencies of major psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) between the groups were also identified.

Results: The FDRs of individuals who died from accidents were more likely to themselves die from accidents (relative risk [RR] = 4.62) and by suicide (RR = 1.54) compared with individuals in the control group. The FDRs of individuals who died from accidents had an increased risk of developing schizophrenia (RR = 1.24), bipolar disorder (RR = 1.18), major depressive disorder (RR = 1.26), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (RR = 1.10) compared with the FDRs of individuals who did not die from accidents.

Conclusion: Our findings may serve as a reminder to public health officials and clinicians to monitor closely the mental health of the FDRs of individuals who die from accidents.