The Lifetime Risk of Suicide in Schizophrenia: a Reexamination

The objective of this study was to build a methodology for extrapolating lifetime suicide prevalence estimates from published cohorts & to apply this approach to the 71 studies that met inclusion criteria. The estimate of lifetime suicide prevalence in those observed from first admission or illness onset was 5.6%. Mixed samples showed a rate of 1.8%. Case fatality rates showed no significant differences when studies of patients diagnosed with the use of newer systems were compared with studies of patients diagnosed under older criteria. It is estimated that 4.9% of people with schizophrenia will die by suicide during their lifetimes, usually near illness onset. (90 refs.)