Background: The goal of this study is to examine the relationship between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and suicidal ideation and suicide attempt among adults in the United States.
Methods: Data were drawn from the National Comorbidity Study-Replication (NCS-R), a household probability sample of adults ages 18 and older in the United States.
Results: COPD is associated with significantly increased odds of suicidal ideation and suicide attempt, compared with those without COPD. The association between COPD and suicide attempt remained statistically significant after adjusting for demographics, depression, panic disorder, substance use and nicotine dependence. The association between COPD and suicidal ideation was no longer significant after adjusting for nicotine dependence.
Conclusions: Our findings provide initial evidence that there is a relationship between COPD and suicidal behavior among adults in the community. Future studies that can examine the relationship between COPD and completed suicide, as well as replication of these results, would improve our understanding of whether and to what degree COPD confers an increased vulnerability for suicide behavior.
Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.