Suicidality and second generation antipsychotics in schizophrenia patients: a case-controlled retrospective study during a 5-year period

How to save a life: From neurobiological underpinnings to psychopharmacotherapies in the prevention of suicide

The impact of suicide on our societies, mental healthcare, and public health is beyond questionable. Every year approximately 700 000 lives are lost due to suicide around the world (WHO, 2021); more people die by suicide than by homicide and war. Although suicide is a key issue and reducing suicide mortality is a global imperative, suicide is a highly complex biopsychosocial phenomenon, and in spite of several suicidal models developed in recent years and a high number of suicide risk factors identified, we still have neither a sufficient understanding of underpinnings of suicide nor adequate management strategies to reduce its prevalence. The present paper first overviews the background of suicidal behavior including its epidemiology, prevalence, age and gender correlations and its association with neuropsychiatric disorders as well as its clinical assessment. Then we give an overview of the etiological background, including its biopsychosocial contexts, genetics and neurobiology. Based on the above, we then provide a critical overview of the currently available intervention options to manage and reduce risk of suicide, including psychotherapeutic modalities, traditional medication classes also providing an up-to-date overview on the antisuicidal effects of lithium, as well as novel molecules such as esketamine and emerging medications and further molecules in development. Finally we give a critical overview on our current knowledge on using neuromodulatory and biological therapies, such as ECT, rTMS, tDCS and other options.

Suicide prevention in psychiatric patients

An increased risk of suicide has been reported for psychiatric patients. In several world regions, an underlying psychiatric disorder is reported in up to 90% of people who die from suicide, though this rate seems to be considerably lower in low- and middle-income countries. Major psychiatric conditions associated with suicidality are mood disorders, alcohol and substance use disorders, borderline personality disorder, and schizophrenia. Comorbidity between different disorders is frequently associated with a higher suicide risk. A history of suicide attempts, feelings of hopelessness, impulsivity and aggression, adverse childhood experiences, severe psychopathology, and somatic disorders are common risk factors for suicide among psychiatric patients. Stressful life events and interpersonal problems, including interpersonal violence, are often triggers. A comprehensive and repeated suicide risk assessment represents the first step for effective suicide prevention. Particular attention should be paid during and after hospitalization, with the first days and weeks after discharge representing the most critical period. Pharmacological treatment of mood disorders and schizophrenia has been shown to have an anti-suicidal effect. A significant reduction of suicidal thoughts and behavior has been reported for cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy. Brief interventions, including psychoeducation and follow-ups, are associated with a decrease in suicide deaths. Further development of suicide prevention in psychiatric patients will require a better understanding of additional risk and protective factors, such as the role of a person's decision-making capacity and social support, the role of spiritual and religious interventions, and the reduction of the treatment gap in mental health care.

Antipsychotics as a method of suicide: population based follow-up study of suicide in Northern Finland

AIM

This study examined the trend and role of antipsychotics as a method of self-poisoning suicide.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The basic data covered 483 poisoning suicides, occurring between the years 1988 and 2011, in Northern Finland, of which 178 (115 men, 63 women) were completed using antipsychotics.

RESULTS

During the 23-year follow-up period, second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) overtook first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs) as a suicide method. Female victims, compared to males, had more commonly used quetiapine (17.5% vs. 6.1%, p = .016), while suicides using promazine were more common in males compared to females (36.5% vs. 22.2%, p = .049). People with unipolar depression had more frequently used SGAs (40.0%) or a combination of SGAs and FGAs (12.5%) than FGAs (19.2%) (p = .019) in their suicides.

CONCLUSION

The use of SGAs in suicides is becoming increasingly common, which calls for further studies.

The Importance of Suicide Risk Formulation in Schizophrenia

Suicide is a cause of early mortality in nearly 5% of patients with schizophrenia, and 25-50% of patients with schizophrenia attempt suicide in their lifetime. Evidence points to numerous individual, clinical, social, and psychological risk factors for suicide in patients with schizophrenia. Although recognizing suicidal risk factors in schizophrenia is extremely important in suicidal risk assessment, we have recently witnessed a change in suicide risk management that shifts the focus from suicide risk assessment to suicide risk formulation. Suicide risk formulation is dependent on the data gathered in the suicide risk assessment and assigns a level of suicide risk that is indispensable for the choice of treatment and the management of patients with a high suicidal risk. In this article, we extend the suicide risk formulation model to patients with schizophrenia. Suicide risk formulation results from four different areas that help clinicians collect as much information as possible for the management of suicidal risk. The four distinct judgments comprise risk status (the risk relating to the specific group to which the patient belongs), risk state (the risk for the person compared with his baseline or another reference point in the course of his life), available resources (on whom the person can count during a crisis) and foreseeable events (which can exacerbate the crisis). In schizophrenia, the suicide risk formulation model allows the clinician to evaluate in depth the clinical context of the patient, the patient's own history and patient-specific opportunities for better choosing and applying suicide prevention strategies.

Adaptation of evidence-based suicide prevention strategies during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Suicide is preventable. Nevertheless, each year 800,000 people die of suicide in the world. While there is evidence indicating that suicide rates de-crease during times of crises, they are expected to increase once the immediate crisis has passed. The COVID-19 pandemic affects risk and pro-tective factors for suicide at each level of the socio-ecological model. Economic downturn, augmented barriers to accessing health care, increased access to suicidal means, inappropriate media reporting at the societal level; deprioritization of mental health and preventive activities at the community level; interpersonal conflicts, neglect and violence at the relationship level; unemployment, poverty, loneliness and hopelessness at the individual level: all these variables contribute to an increase of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, harmful use of alcohol, substance abuse, and ultimately suicide risk. Suicide should be prevented by strengthening universal strategies directed to the entire population, including mitigation of unemployment, poverty and inequalities; prioritization of access to mental health care; responsible media reporting, with information about available support; prevention of increased alcohol intake; and restriction of access to lethal means of suicide. Selective interventions should continue to target known vulnerable groups who are socio-economically disadvantaged, but also new ones such as first responders and health care staff, and the bereaved by COVID-19 who have been deprived of the final contact with loved ones and funerals. Indicated preventive strategies targeting individuals who display suicidal behaviour should focus on available pharmacological and psychological treatments of mental disorders, ensuring proper follow-up and chain of care by increased use of telemedicine and other digital means. The scientific community, health care professionals, politicians and decision-makers will find in this paper a systematic description of the effects of the pandemic on suicide risk at the society, community, family and individual levels, and an overview of how evidence-based suicide preventive interventions should be adapted. Research is needed to investigate which adaptations are effective and in which con-texts.

Psychopharmacotherapy of Suicidal Behavior in Schizophrenia and Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorders

Background. Suicidal behavior in schizophrenia correlates with the severity of productive and negative personality symptoms.

Aims. Study of the clinic, the effectiveness of psychopharmacotherapy of paranoid schizophrenia and schizotypal disorder with the presence of suicidal behavior.

Material and methods. Patients with paranoid schizophrenia, episodic type of course (n = 19) and schizotypal disorder (n = 15) were studied, in the clinical picture of which various variants of suicidal behavior were revealed. Clinicalpsychopathological, clinical-anamnestic, and psychometric methods were used.

Results. Suicidal behavior in patients with an actual attack of paranoid schizophrenia was represented by suicidal intentions to avoid persecution (42.1 %), exposure to “voices” with an order to end their lives (36.8 %), and suicidal attempts (21.1 %). In patients with schizotypal disorder, suicidal thoughts were detected (84.6 %) in the form of loss of meaning in life, and suicidal attempts (15.4 %). Psychopharmacotherapy of suicidal behavior in schizophrenia and schizotypal disorder included the use of antipsychotics (atypical and traditional), antidepressants, tranquilizers, and normotimics. Among patients with paranoid schizophrenia, a decrease in the overall score of the PANSS scale was detected by day 14 of therapy (p < 0.05). The effectiveness of therapy was due to the reduction of delirium, verbal hallucinosis, and deactualization of suicidal behavior. Among patients with schizotypal disorder, a statistically significant decrease in the overall score of the PANSS scale was observed by 21 days of therapy (p < 0.05). The favorable dynamics was characterized by a decrease in manifestations of depression, suicidal thoughts, loss of interests.

Conclusion. Combined therapy (antipsychotic, antidepressant, normotimic) helps reduce mental disorders and suicidal tendencies in patients with schizophrenia and schizophrenic spectrum disorders.

Suicide attempts and related factors in schizophrenia patients

Objectives:

To investigate the relationship between suicide attempts and demographic-clinical variables and to assess the methods used in suicide attempts by comparing schizophrenia patients with and without suicide attempts.

Methods:

A retrospective study with a total of 223 schizophrenia patients aged 18-65 years that were admitted to the Department of Psychiatry, Selcuk University and the Beyhekim Psychiatric Clinic Konya Training and Research Hospital, Konya, Turkey, between January 2014 and January 2018 The data collection forms created by researchers were completed using hospital medical records.

Results:

It was determined that 40.8% of schizophrenia patients attempted suicide at least once and that 39.6% of schizophrenia patients who attempted suicide had recurrent suicide attempts. Those with suicide attempts had a significantly longer mean duration of untreated psychosis and a higher total number of hospitalizations compared to those without suicide attempts. In addition, the use of depot antipsychotic drugs was significantly lower in those with suicide attempts. There was a statistically significant difference in the presence of traumatic life events between those with and without suicide attempts.

Conclusion:

Suicidal behavior is an important problem in schizophrenia. Identifying risk factors and high-risk individuals will guide us in the development of preventive interventions.

Understanding and managing cardiac side-effects of second-generation antipsychotics in the treatment of schizophrenia

Second-generation antipsychotic medications (SGAs) have advanced the treatment of schizophrenia over the past 30 years. However, a number of potentially life-threatening cardiac side-effects associated with these treatments concern and can discourage prescribers from administering these evidence-based treatments. This review provides a practical, psychiatrist-oriented understanding of the relative frequencies, mechanisms, investigations and treatments associated with these cardiac toxicities. We aim to highlight that these are relatively rare complications of an effective class of drug and to promote the advantages of early involvement of cardiologists in the psychiatric multidisciplinary team to guide the investigation and management of these conditions.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

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Suicide in Schizophrenia: An Educational Overview

Suicide is an important public health problem. The most frequent psychiatric illnesses associated with suicide or severe suicide attempt are mood and psychotic disorders. The purpose of this paper is to provide an educational overview of suicidal behavior in individuals with schizophrenia. A lifetime suicide rate in individuals with schizophrenia is approximately 10%. Suicide is the largest contributor to the decreased life expectancy in individuals with schizophrenia. Demographic and psychosocial factors that increase a risk of suicide in individuals with schizophrenia include younger age, being male, being unmarried, living alone, being unemployed, being intelligent, being well-educated, good premorbid adjustment or functioning, having high personal expectations and hopes, having an understanding that life’s expectations and hopes are not likely to be met, having had recent (i.e., within past 3 months) life events, having poor work functioning, and having access to lethal means, such as firearms. Throughout the first decade of their disorder, patients with schizophrenia are at substantially elevated suicide risk, although they continue to be at elevated suicide risk during their lives with times of worsening or improvement. Having awareness of symptoms, especially, awareness of delusions, anhedonia, asociality, and blunted affect, having a negative feeling about, or non-adherence with, treatment are associated with greater suicide risk in patients with schizophrenia. Comorbid depression and a history of suicidal behavior are important contributors to suicide risk in patients with schizophrenia. The only reliable protective factor for suicide in patients with schizophrenia is provision of and compliance with comprehensive treatment. Prevention of suicidal behavior in schizophrenia should include recognizing patients at risk, delivering the best possible therapy for psychotic symptoms, and managing comorbid depression and substance misuse.

High Risk of Suicide in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia

AIM

The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempts in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), evaluating possible risk factors for suicidality.

METHODS

Risk of suicide was assessed using the Scale for Suicide Ideation (SSI) in 35 patients with bvFTD and 25 controls.

RESULTS

According to SSI, 40% of patients with bvFTD had suicidal ideation in comparison to 8% of controls ( P = .009). Four patients with bvFTD have attempted suicide versus none control ( P = .006). Patients with bvFTD with suicide risk showed higher levels of anxiety, depression, stress, and hopelessness than patients without suicide risk ( P < .001). Patients who attempted suicide were younger and had a longer disease duration than those with only suicide ideation. Intriguingly, 40% of patients with parkinsonism presented high level of suicide ideation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings show that patients with bvFTD have a high risk of suicide. Additional studies in larger populations are needed to confirm our results.

Scope and Characteristics of Suicide Attempts Among Manic Patients With Bipolar Disorder

BACKGROUND

Suicide is often associated with depression in patients suffering from bipolar disorder (BD) and less is known about its relation to mania. Available data suggest that patients in the manic phase of BD may be at risk of suicide.

AIM

We characterized suicide attempts in a cohort of patients with BD in manic and mixed phases.

METHOD

We focused on the scope, rate, and characteristics of suicide attempts among BD patients during manic or mixed states. Associations between suicide as well as clinical and sociodemographic variables were analyzed using computerized medical chart data from 209 adult inpatients diagnosed (DSM-IV) as experiencing manic and mixed BD episodes.

RESULTS

The rate of recent suicide attempts among BD inpatients with manic and mixed episodes was 10.5%. Married patients had a decreased rate of suicide attempts. Comorbid alcohol or substance abuse were correlated with an increased risk of suicide attempts. Presence of suicidal ideation increased suicide risk while older age was linked to a decrease in the rate of suicide attempts.

LIMITATIONS

The retrospective design of the study and overrepresentation of the clinical severity of BD were limitations.

CONCLUSION

The rate of suicide attempts in the manic and mixed phases of BD is substantial and calls for raising awareness among psychiatrists.

Comparative effect of antipsychotics on risk of self-harm among patients with schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the association of different antipsychotic treatments with hospitalization due to self-harm among patients with schizophrenia.

METHOD

This retrospective cohort study was based on Taiwan's universal health insurance database. Patients aged 15-45 years with a newly diagnosed schizophrenic disorder in 2001-2012 were included. The study outcome was the first hospitalization due to self-harm or undetermined injury after the diagnosis of schizophrenic disorders. The exposure status of antipsychotics was modeled as a time-dependent variable. The analyses were stratified by antipsychotic dosage based on defined daily dose (DDD).

RESULTS

Among 70 380 patients with a follow-up of 500 355 person-years, 2272 self-harm hospitalization episodes were identified. Compared with none or former use, current use of several second-generation antipsychotics with a dose of one DDD or above, including amisulpride, aripiprazole, clozapine, risperidone, and sulpiride, was associated with decreased risk of self-harm hospitalization, with clozapine showing the strongest effect (adjusted rate ratio = 0.26, 95% confidence interval 0.15-0.47).

CONCLUSION

The protective effect on self-harm may vary across different antipsychotics. Further studies are needed to replicate the findings.

Do Atypical Antipsychotics Have Antisuicidal Effects? A Hypothesis-Generating Overview

Modern antipsychotic drugs are employed increasingly in the treatment of mood disorders as well as psychoses, stimulating interest in their possible contributions to altering suicidal risk. Clozapine remains the only treatment with an FDA-recognized indication for reducing suicidal risk (in schizophrenia). We carried out a systematic, computerized search for reports of studies involving antipsychotic drug treatment and suicidal behaviors. A total of 19 reports provide data with preliminary support for potential suicide risk-reducing effects of olanzapine, quetiapine, ziprasidone, aripiprazole, and asenapine in addition to clozapine, and provide some support for antipsychotic drug treatment in general. These preliminary findings encourage further testing of antipsychotics for effects on suicidal behavior, making use of explicit, pre-planned assessments of suicidal behavior.

Suicidal Behavior in Mood Disorders: Response to Pharmacological Treatment

Suicidal behavior is strongly associated with depression, especially if accompanied by behavioral activation, dysphoria, or agitation. It may respond to some treatments, but the design of scientifically sound, ethical trials to test for therapeutic effects on suicidal behavior is highly challenging. In bipolar disorder, and possibly also unipolar major depression, an underprescribed medical intervention with substantial evidence of preventive effects on suicidal behavior is long-term treatment with lithium. It is unclear whether this effect is specifically antisuicidal or reflects beneficial effects of lithium on depression, mood instability, and perhaps aggression and impulsivity. Antisuicidal effects of anticonvulsant mood stabilizers (carbamazepine, lamotrigine, valproate) appear to be less than with lithium. Further evaluation is needed for potential antisuicidal effects of atypical antipsychotics with growing evidence of efficacy in depression, particularly acute bipolar depression, while generally lacking risk of inducing agitation, mania, or mood instability. Short-term and long-term value and safety of antidepressants are relatively secure for unipolar depression but uncertain and poorly tested for bipolar depression; their effects on suicidal risk in unipolar depression may be age-dependent. Sedative anxiolytics are virtually unstudied as regards suicidal risks. Adequate management of suicidal risks in mood disorder patients requires comprehensive, clinically skillful monitoring and timely interventions.

World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) Guidelines for Biological Treatment of Schizophrenia. Part 3: Update 2015 Management of special circumstances: Depression, Suicidality, substance use disorders and pregnancy and lactation

These updated guidelines are based on the first edition of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) guidelines for biological treatment of schizophrenia published in the years 2005 and 2006. For this 2015 revision, all available publications pertaining to the biological treatment of schizophrenia were reviewed systematically to allow for an evidence-based update. These guidelines provide evidence-based practice recommendations which are clinically and scientifically relevant. They are intended to be used by all physicians diagnosing and treating patients with schizophrenia. Based on the first version of these guidelines a systematic review, as well as a data extraction from national guidelines have been performed for this update. The identified literature was evaluated with respect to the strength of evidence for its efficacy and subsequently categorised into six levels of evidence (A-F) and five levels of recommendation (1-5). This third part of the updated guidelines covers the management of the following specific treatment circumstances: comorbid depression, suicidality, various comorbid substance use disorders (legal and illegal drugs), and pregnancy and lactation. These guidelines are primarily concerned with the biological treatment (including antipsychotic medication and other pharmacological treatment options) of patients with schizophrenia.

Suicide attempts in a national population of twins concordant for psychoses

Psychotic disorders are associated with an increased risk of suicide attempts, the etiology of which remains unknown across diagnoses. Thus it is relevant to understand how genetic and environmental factors contribute to the liability of suicide attempts in psychosis. The current study aims to examine the role of genetic and environmental factors in suicide attempts across psychotic disorders in twins concordant for psychosis. The study population consisted of all twin pairs in the Israeli National Psychiatric Case Registry hospitalized with a last discharge diagnosis of a psychotic disorder. Twin pairs (N=116) were born between 1900 and 1993 and hospitalized from 1964 to 2001. Competing genetic models were examined to decompose the variance in suicide attempts into: the individual-specific environment (unique), shared-family environment, and genetic effects. Across schizophrenia, psychosis and non-affective psychosis comparison of genetic models showed a model combining shared-family and unique environmental effects were superior to competing genetic models. Modeling estimates for attempted suicide were: in non-affective psychosis 60% to the shared-family and 40% to the unique environment; in schizophrenia 60% to the shared-family and 40% to the unique environment; and in psychosis 66% to the shared-family and 34% to the unique environment. Across psychosis, schizophrenia and non-affective psychosis vulnerability toward suicide attempts consists predominantly of substantial individual and familial environmental elements.

Medication and suicide risk in schizophrenia: a nested case-control study

INTRODUCTION

Patients with schizophrenia are at increased risk of suicide, but data from controlled studies of pharmacotherapy in relation to suicide risk is limited.

AIM

To explore suicide risk in schizophrenia in relation to medication with antipsychotics, antidepressants, and lithium.

METHODS

Of all patients with a first clinical discharge diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder in Stockholm County between 1984 and 2000 (n=4000), patients who died by suicide within five years from diagnosis were defined as cases (n=84; 54% male). Individually matched controls were identified from the same population. Information on prescribed medication was retrieved from psychiatric records in a blinded way. Adjusted odds ratios [OR] of the association between medication and suicide were calculated by conditional logistic regression.

RESULTS

Lower suicide risk was found in patients who had been prescribed a second generation antipsychotic (clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, or ziprasidone; 12 cases and 20 controls): OR 0.29 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.09-0.97). When the 6 cases and 8 controls who had been prescribed clozapine were excluded, the OR was 0.23 (95% CI 0.06-0.89). No significant association was observed between suicide and prescription of any antipsychotic, depot injection antipsychotics, antidepressants, SSRI, or lithium.

CONCLUSIONS

Lower suicide risk for patients who had been prescribed second generation antipsychotics may be related to a pharmacological effect of these drugs, to differences in adherence, or to differences in other patient characteristics associated with lower suicide risk.

Antipsychotics and mortality in first-onset schizophrenia: prospective Finnish register study with 5-year follow-up

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to assess the impact of the most commonly used typical and atypical antipsychotics on mortality of patients with first-onset schizophrenia.

METHOD

We conducted a nationwide, register-based, five-year follow-up study of all patients presenting with first-onset of schizophrenia between 1998 and 2003. Details of reimbursed medicines were obtained from the register of Social Insurance Institution.

RESULTS

After adjusting for age, gender, comorbid physical diseases and patient group, the use of second generation antipsychotics (SGAs), especially clozapine, olanzapine and quetiapine, was associated with reduced risk of all-cause mortality in patients with schizophrenia, while clozapine associated with lower suicide risk. First generation antipsychotics (FGAs), specifically levomepromazine, thioridazine or clorprothixene, were associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality. The FGAs, particularly clorprothixene, were associated with decreased suicide mortality. An increased likelihood for cardiovascular deaths was found among users of levomepromazine. In antidepressants, the use of mirtazapine associated with increased risk of suicide.

CONCLUSIONS

Differences exist between FGAs' and SGAs' use in relation to mortality. These differences remain even when the patient's physical illness are taken into account when prescribing antipsychotic medication.

Impact of psychotropic drugs on suicide and suicidal behaviors

OBJECTIVE

To examine the impact of psychotropic drugs on suicide and suicidal behaviors in bipolar disorders.

METHODS

A Medline search of articles published from January 1960 to January 2013 was performed using relevant keywords to identify studies examining the relationship of psychotropic drugs to suicidal behaviors. The publications were further reviewed for relevant references and information. Additionally, the US Food and Drug Administration Center for Drug Evaluation Research website was searched.

RESULTS

The available studies used differing methodologies, making interpretation of the findings difficult. Studies suggest that antidepressants may increase suicidal risk in bipolar disorder, this possibly being related to the induction of broadly defined mixed states. There is no evidence that antiepileptic drugs as a class increase suicidal risk in patients with bipolar disorder. Only lithium provides convincing data that it reduces the risk of suicide over the long term. There is little known regarding the effects of antipsychotics, as well as anti-anxiety and hypnotic drugs, on suicidal behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

The available evidence for the impact of psychotropics on suicidal risk in patients with bipolar disorder is largely methodologically flawed and, except for a few instances, clinically not useful at this point. Adequately powered, prospective randomized controlled studies are needed to assess the impact of each class of psychotropic and each psychotropic as well as common combination therapies. Until such studies have been carried out, clinicians are urged to exercise caution in using these drugs and rely on the traditional means of carefully assessing and monitoring patients with bipolar disorder who are at high risk for suicide.

Suicide attempts in veterans with bipolar disorder during treatment with lithium, divalproex, and atypical antipsychotics

Suicide attempt rates were assessed in 1306 subjects in this 6 year retrospective study of Bipolar disorder. Participants were Veterans from 5 different Veterans Administration Hospitals who met criteria for bipolar type 1 or 2 and who had at least one prescription for lithium or divalproex or both during the study period. This study focused on the impact of atypical antipsychotics on the suicide attempt rate when used in addition to or in place of lithium or divalproex. Medication exposure was calculated using computerized pharmacy records. Suicide attempts were established through chart review including emergency room records, inpatient records, and outpatient records. There were a total of 117 suicide attempts and 2 suicide completions during the study period. Most attempts (59%) occurred when patients were on no medications. Nearly 90% of subjects spent an average of 45 months during the 6 year period on none of the aforementioned medications. The lowest percentage of suicide attempts (15%) occurred while on lithium, 21% while on divalproex and 24% while on atypical antipsychotics. When total months of exposure were taken into account, the lowest attempt rate occurred on lithium plus divalproex (6.3 attempts per 10,000 months of exposure), followed by divalproex alone (7.0 attempts/10,000 months of exposure), and lithium alone (7.7 attempts per 10,000 months of exposure). Patients on atypical antipsychotics alone had an attempt rate of 26.1 attempts per 10,000 months of exposure. In this study, lithium and divalproex provided protection against suicide attempts. Results need to be replicated in future prospective studies and clearly strategies for improving medication compliance among veterans are warranted.

Subtypes of antipsychotics and suicidal behavior in bipolar disorder

OBJECTIVE

Antipsychotics are commonly used in bipolar disorder, with newer (SGA) agents increasingly replacing FGA antipsychotics, particularly in bipolar depression. There are few data on differences between FGA and SGA antipsychotics in terms of their relationship to suicidal behavior in bipolar disorder.

METHOD

This was a retrospective chart review of 161 bipolar veterans treated naturalistically with antipsychotics at a university-affiliated VA hospital and clinics for up to 8 years. Charts were reviewed to determine monthly antipsychotic use and occurrence of suicidal behavior: completed suicide, attempted suicide or hospitalization to prevent suicide. Suicidal behavior events were compared across patients during treatment with individual antipsychotics and FGAs or SGAs as a class.

RESULTS

Non-lethal suicide events were more common during FGA than SGA monotherapy (9 events/110 months of exposure vs. 6 events/381 months of exposure; χ(2)=9.65, p=0.002). Suicide event rates did not differ between FGAs and SGAs when used in conjunction with mood stabilizers. Event rates were lower with lithium than anticonvulsants when used in conjunction with antipsychotics. No differences were found between olanzapine, risperidone and quetiapine.

LIMITATIONS

The retrospective chart review methodology may have led to confounding by indication and diagnostic inaccuracy. No completed suicides occurred. Study participants were primarily male veterans. Results may not be generalizable to SGAs marketed since 2003.

CONCLUSIONS

FGA antipsychotic monotherapy may be associated with higher suicidal behavior risk than SGA antipsychotic monotherapy. Antipsychotics used in conjunction with mood stabilizers, particularly lithium, are associated with lower rates, independent of antipsychotic subtype.

Managing suicide risk in patients with schizophrenia

The management of suicide risk in patients with schizophrenia poses many challenges for clinicians. Compared with the general population, these patients have an 8.5-fold greater risk of suicide. This article reviews the literature dealing with the treatment of at-risk patients with schizophrenia. An integrated psychosocial and pharmacological approach to managing this population of patients is recommended. Although there is at least modest evidence suggesting that antipsychotic medications protect against suicidal risk, the evidence appears to be most favourable for second-generation antipsychotics, particularly clozapine, which is the only medication approved by the US FDA for preventing suicide in patients with schizophrenia. In addition, treating depressive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia is an important component of suicide risk reduction. While selective serotonin receptor inhibitors (SSRIs) ameliorate depressive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, they also appear to attenuate suicidal thoughts. Further research is needed to more effectively personalize the treatment of suicidal thoughts and behaviours and the prevention of suicide in patients with schizophrenia.

Suicide attempts in a prospective cohort of patients with schizophrenia treated with sertindole or risperidone

The incidence of suicide attempts (fatal and non-fatal) was analysed in a prospective cohort of patients with schizophrenia randomly assigned to sertindole (4905 patients) or risperidone (4904 patients) in a parallel-group open-label study with blinded classification of outcomes (the sertindole cohort prospective study--SCoP). The total exposure was 6978 and 7975 patient-years in the sertindole and risperidone groups, respectively. Suicide mortality in the study was low (0.21 and 0.28 per 100 patients per year with sertindole and risperidone, respectively). The majority (84%) of suicide attempts occurred within the first year of treatment. Cox's proportional hazards model analysis of the time to the first suicide attempt, reported by treating psychiatrists and blindly reviewed by an independent expert group according to the Columbia Classification Algorithm of Suicide Assessment (both defining suicide attempts by association of suicidal act and intent to die), showed a lower risk of suicide attempt for sertindole-treated patients than for risperidone-treated patients. The effect was statistically significant with both evaluation methods during the first year of randomized treatment (hazard ratios [95% CI]: 0.5 [0.31-0.82], p=0.006; and 0.57 [0.35-0.92], p=0.02, respectively). With classification by an independent safety committee using a broader definition including all incidences of intentional self-harm, also those without clear suicidal intent, the results were not significant. A history of previous suicide attempts was significantly associated with attempted suicides in both treatment groups.

Suicide and schizophrenia: a systematic review of rates and risk factors

Risk assessment is a core skill in psychiatry. Risk prediction for suicide in schizophrenia is known to be complex. We undertook a systematic review of all original studies concerning suicide in schizophrenia published since 2004. We found 51 data-containing studies (from 1281 studies screened) that met our inclusion criteria, and ranked these by standardized quality criteria. Estimates of rates of suicide and risk factors associated with later suicide were identified, and the risk factors were grouped according to type and strength of association with suicide. Consensus on the lifetime risk of suicide was a rate of approximately 5%. Risk factors with a strong association with later suicide included being young, male, and with a high level of education. Illness-related risk factors were important predictors, with number of prior suicide attempts, depressive symptoms, active hallucinations and delusions, and the presence of insight all having a strong evidential basis. A family history of suicide, and comorbid substance misuse were also positively associated with later suicide. The only consistent protective factor for suicide was delivery of and adherence to effective treatment. Prevention of suicide in schizophrenia will rely on identifying those individuals at risk, and treating comorbid depression and substance misuse, as well as providing best available treatment for psychotic symptoms.

Bipolar pharmacotherapy and suicidal behavior Part 3: impact of antipsychotics

INTRODUCTION

Antipsychotics, particularly second generation agents, are widely used in bipolar disorder, but their effect on suicidal behavior in this population has not been systematically studied.

METHODS

Retrospective chart review of 405 veterans with bipolar disorder followed for a mean of three years, with month-by-month systematic assessment of current pharmacotherapy and suicide completion, attempt or hospitalization for suicidality. Comparison of rates of suicidal events during mood stabilizer monotherapy, antipsychotic monotherapy, and combination of mood stabilizer and antipsychotic.

RESULTS

Non-lethal suicide event rates were 9.4 times greater (chi2=28.29, p<.0001) during antipsychotic monotherapy and 3.5 times greater during mood stabilizer+antipsychotic (chi2=15.13, p=0.0001) than during mood stabilizer monotherapy.

LIMITATIONS

Antipsychotics may have been prescribed because patients were at greater risk of suicidal behavior. First and second generation antipsychotics were not distinguished.

CONCLUSIONS

Treatment of bipolar patients with antipsychotics is associated with an increase in non-lethal suicidal behavior. Thus, use of antipsychotics for bipolar patients requires careful monitoring for suicidal behavior. Further studies are urgently needed to better characterize this relationship.

Factors affecting outcome in schizophrenia and their relevance for psychopharmacological treatment

A major focus of current treatment research in schizophrenia is the determinants of long-term outcome, including functional outcome and general medical well being, rather than just specific domains of psychopathology such as positive and negative symptoms, mood symptoms, and cognitive impairment. This focus does not negate the importance of the latter issues but sees them as factors contributing to long-term outcome to variable extents. A long-term treatment focus facilitates a more clinically relevant assessment of benefits versus risks of available treatments. For instance, atypical antipsychotic drugs as a group have clear advantages for several important domains of efficacy that may influence long-term outcome, but are also more expensive over the long term. Use of some agents may also result in deleterious physical health consequences as well as large additional costs over the long term owing to metabolic adverse effects. The present paper focuses on several key issues in schizophrenia which are important determinants of long-term outcome in schizophrenia, or influence choice of antipsychotic drugs, or both, including: (i) duration of untreated psychosis; (ii) impact of relapse on long-term outcome; (iii) limited efficacy for specific domains of psychopathology of current treatments; (iv) mortality owing to suicide; and (v) mortality owing to other causes (e.g. cardiovascular disease).

Suicide risk in schizophrenia: learning from the past to change the future

Suicide is a major cause of death among patients with schizophrenia. Research indicates that at least 5-13% of schizophrenic patients die by suicide, and it is likely that the higher end of range is the most accurate estimate. There is almost total agreement that the schizophrenic patient who is more likely to commit suicide is young, male, white and never married, with good premorbid function, post-psychotic depression and a history of substance abuse and suicide attempts. Hopelessness, social isolation, hospitalization, deteriorating health after a high level of premorbid functioning, recent loss or rejection, limited external support, and family stress or instability are risk factors for suicide in patients with schizophrenia. Suicidal schizophrenics usually fear further mental deterioration, and they experience either excessive treatment dependence or loss of faith in treatment. Awareness of illness has been reported as a major issue among suicidal schizophrenic patients, yet some researchers argue that insight into the illness does not increase suicide risk. Protective factors play also an important role in assessing suicide risk and should also be carefully evaluated. The neurobiological perspective offers a new approach for understanding self-destructive behavior among patients with schizophrenia and may improve the accuracy of screening schizophrenics for suicide. Although, there is general consensus on the risk factors, accurate knowledge as well as early recognition of patients at risk is still lacking in everyday clinical practice. Better knowledge may help clinicians and caretakers to implement preventive measures. This review paper is the result of a joint effort between researchers in the field of suicide in schizophrenia. Each expert provided a brief essay on one specific aspect of the problem. This is the first attempt to present a consensus report as well as the development of a set of guidelines for reducing suicide risk among schizophrenia patients.

Multi-target strategies for the improved treatment of depressive states: Conceptual foundations and neuronal substrates, drug discovery and therapeutic application

Major depression is a debilitating and recurrent disorder with a substantial lifetime risk and a high social cost. Depressed patients generally display co-morbid symptoms, and depression frequently accompanies other serious disorders. Currently available drugs display limited efficacy and a pronounced delay to onset of action, and all provoke distressing side effects. Cloning of the human genome has fuelled expectations that symptomatic treatment may soon become more rapid and effective, and that depressive states may ultimately be "prevented" or "cured". In pursuing these objectives, in particular for genome-derived, non-monoaminergic targets, "specificity" of drug actions is often emphasized. That is, priority is afforded to agents that interact exclusively with a single site hypothesized as critically involved in the pathogenesis and/or control of depression. Certain highly selective drugs may prove effective, and they remain indispensable in the experimental (and clinical) evaluation of the significance of novel mechanisms. However, by analogy to other multifactorial disorders, "multi-target" agents may be better adapted to the improved treatment of depressive states. Support for this contention is garnered from a broad palette of observations, ranging from mechanisms of action of adjunctive drug combinations and electroconvulsive therapy to "network theory" analysis of the etiology and management of depressive states. The review also outlines opportunities to be exploited, and challenges to be addressed, in the discovery and characterization of drugs recognizing multiple targets. Finally, a diversity of multi-target strategies is proposed for the more efficacious and rapid control of core and co-morbid symptoms of depression, together with improved tolerance relative to currently available agents.

Emotional processing in schizophrenia

INTRODUCTION

Persons with schizophrenia have impaired emotional processing, involving experience, expression, and recognition of emotions.

METHODS

This article reviews the historical descriptions and more recent work on emotion processing in schizophrenia.

RESULTS

Although abilities of emotional processing relate directly to interpersonal communication and psychosocial functioning, methodological issues exist in the current body of studies and resultant knowledge, which limit translation to novel treatment options.

CONCLUSIONS

Further improvement in emotion processing in persons with stable schizophrenia are unlikely to result from conventional pharmacotherapy of psychosis. New treatment modalities and behavioural interventions offer possible improvements in quality of life and psychosocial functioning.

Suicidal behavior in schizophrenia

There is a high prevalence of suicidal behavior in individuals suffering from schizophrenia and recent investigations substantially elucidate this problem and provide useful insights about clinical risk factors, neurobiologic underpinnings and the impact of various treatments on reducing such behavior. The risk of suicide is greatest early in the course of schizophrenic illness but continues throughout life; risk factors for suicidal behavior include psychosis, depression and substance abuse. Effectively treating positive symptoms and depression, reducing substance abuse, avoiding akathisia, addressing demoralization and instilling hope are important elements in this treatment approach. The newer generation of atypical antipsychotics (particularly clozapine) and new psychologic approaches (particularly cognitive behavioral therapy) appear to be useful in reducing suicidality in schizophrenia. The significant advances in defining the neurobiologic basis of suicidality may enable the development of more effective treatments. The renewed emphasis on resilience and recovery as desired outcomes in schizophrenia and the accompanying sense of hope encourage optimism about effectively reducing suicidality in schizophrenia. Over the past 10 years, much has been learnt and hopefully this momentum will be translated into increasingly better outcomes.

Axis I disorders and personality disorders as risk factors for suicide

There is a lack of psychological autopsy studies assessing the influence of axis I disorders on axis II disorders as risk factors for suicide. Therefore, we investigated the association between personality disorders, axis I disorders, and suicide. Psychiatric disorders were evaluated by a semi-structured interview including the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I (SCID-I) and Personality Disorders (SCID-II) in 163 completed suicides (mean age 49.6 +/- 19.3 years; 64.4% men) and by personal interview in 396 population-based control persons (mean age 51.6 +/- 17.0 years; 55.8% men). In both genders, suicides significantly more often had personality disorders of all clusters than controls, also after adjustment for axis I disorders (p < 0.001, each). In addition, alcohol-related disorders, major depression, and co-occurrence of personality disorders of more than one cluster (men: OR = 16.13; women: OR = 20.43) remained independent predictors for suicide in both genders, "pure" cluster B personality disorders only in women and "pure" cluster C personality disorders only in men. In both genders, co-occurrence of personality disorders of more than one cluster contributed to risk of completed suicide after control for axis I psychiatric disorders and has to be considered as an independent risk factor for suicide.

Reduced cancer incidence among patients with schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

The incidence of cancer in patients with schizophrenia has been conversely reported to be higher, lower, or similar to that in the general population. The effects of lifestyle factors such as excess smoking, exposure to neuroleptic medications, and genetic factors that may influence the incidence of cancer in this group are not clear. The current study was performed to evaluate the frequency of cancer in a large cohort of patients with schizophrenia and to determine the standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of any malignancy in this group.

METHODS

Data regarding the design, setting, and participants of the current study were analyzed from a cohort of 3226 patients with schizophrenia who were enrolled in the computerized health registry of the Abarbanel Mental Health Center between 1993-2003. The mean age of the patients at the time of the diagnosis of cancer was 49 +/- 14.7 years, with the majority of patients (61%) being male. All patients with schizophrenia records in the database were combined with the records of the Israeli National Cancer Registry to identify pathologically confirmed cancer comorbidity. The cancer incidence rates among patients with schizophrenia were compared with the expected incidence in an age-matched and gender-matched general population sample for the same time interval.

RESULTS

Among 1247 female patients with schizophrenia, 22 (1.8%) developed breast cancer and 68 (5.5%) developed cancers of any type. Fifty-two of the 1979 male schizophrenic patients (2.6%) developed cancer. The SIRs were 0.58 (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.48-0.69) with a P value of < 0.05 for all cancers in the cohort, and 0.60 (95% CI, 0.37-0.90) for female breast cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of the current study demonstrate a reduced risk of cancer in patients with schizophrenia. The mechanisms responsible for the lower risk need be investigated further.

World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) guidelines for biological treatment of schizophrenia, Part 1: acute treatment of schizophrenia

These guide lines for the biological treatment of schizophrenia were developed by an international Task Force of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBO). The goal during the development of these guidelines was to review systematically all available evidence pertaining to the treatment of schizophrenia, and to reach a consensus on a series of practice recommendations that are clinically and scientifically meaningful based on the available evidence. These guidelines are intended for use by all physicians seeing and treating people with schizophrenia. The data used for developing these guidelines have been extracted primarily from various national treatment guidelines and panels for schizophrenia, as well as from meta-analyses, reviews and randomised clinical trials on the efficacy of pharmacological and other biological treatment interventions identified by a search of the MEDLINE database and Cochrane Library. The identified literature was evaluated with respect to the strength of evidence for its efficacy and then categorised into four levels of evidence (A-D). This first part of the guidelines covers disease definition, classification, epidemiology and course of schizophrenia, as well as the management of the acute phase treatment. These guidelines are primarily concerned with the biological treatment (including antipsychotic medication, other pharmacological treatment options, electroconvulsive therapy, adjunctive and novel therapeutic strategies) of adults suffering from schizophrenia.

Strategies for improving adherence to second-generation antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia by increasing ease of use

Despite the advances in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia that have occurred since the introduction of the second-generation (atypical) antipsychotic agents, a leading cause of suboptimal outcome is poor patient adherence to oral medication. Partial adherence can be attributed to a number of factors, including lack of insight, cognitive dysfunction, a complicated treatment regimen, drug-related side effects, patient attitude, lack of patient education, and cultural factors. A number of strategies, including psychosocial interventions, cognitive-behavioral techniques, strategies that minimize side effects, and pharmacological approaches that increase ease of medication use, can be employed to support adherence and improve long-term outcomes. This article focuses on strategies for increasing ease of use of antipsychotics in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. These strategies include using monotherapy rather than polypharmacy, simplifying the medication regimen, and using a long-acting antipsychotic formulation. The goal of these strategies is to improve adherence and help prevent relapse by ensuring continuous antipsychotic coverage. Strategies that optimize ease of use of medication treatment for schizophrenia and thus improve adherence to treatment are likely to promote the attainment of new treatment goals and improved patient outcomes.