Estimating the Association Between Mental Health Disorders and Suicide: a Review of Common Sources of Bias and Challenges and Opportunities for US-Based Research

AbstractPurpose of ReviewThe purpose of this review is to (1) illuminate prevalent methodological approaches and estimates of association between mental health diagnoses and suicide from the meta-analytic literature; (2) discuss key internal and external validity concerns with these estimates; and (3) highlight some of the unique attributes and challenges in US-based suicide research and opportunities to move the evidence base forward.Recent FindingsGlobally, there is considerable variability in measures of association between mental health disorders and suicide and a growing debate over methodological approaches to this research. A high suicide incidence makes the US an outlier, and the decentralized nature of US administrative data poses a unique challenge to data linkage that could otherwise advance this research.SummaryWe offer methodological considerations for future research and discuss opportunities made possible by the recent expansion of the US National Violent Death Reporting System to a nationwide registry.
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research