Exploratory Data Mining Analysis Identifying Subgroups of Patients With Depression who are at High Risk for Suicide

Using an empirically based decision tree analysis for a large national sample of Veterans Affairs health system patients treated for depression, the authors identified subgroups with particularly high or low rates of suicide. 887,859 patients treated for depression between April 1999 & September 2004 were identified. The exploratory data analysis produced a decision tree with subgroups of patients at differing levels of risk for suicide. The patients at highest risk were those with substance use disorder who were non-African American & had an inpatient psychiatric stay within the past 12 months. The identification of depressed patients at increased risk for suicide is improved through the examination of higher order interactions between potential risk factors. (23 refs.) JA