This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Peter M. Marzuk, MD; Helen Tierney, MD; Kenneth Tardiff, MD, MPH; Elliot M. Gross, MD; Edward B. Morgan, MPH; Ming-Ann Hsu, MPH; J. John Mann, MD

JAMA. 1988;259(9):1333-1337.

Abstract
The rate of suicide has been reported to be higher in persons with chronic and life-threatening illnesses (eg, cancer, Huntington's disease, and renal failure). We studied the rate of suicide in 1985 in New York City residents diagnosed with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). There were 668 suicides in New York City residents in 1985, yielding a rate of 9.29 per 100000 personyears. In men aged 20 to 59 years without a known diagnosis of AIDS, the rate was 18.75 per 100000 person-years. There were 3828 individuals who lived with the diagnosis of AIDS for some part, or all, of 1985. There were 12 suicides in men aged 20 to 59 years from this group who lived 1763.25 person-years with a diagnosis of AIDS. This yields a suicide rate of 680.56 per 100000 person-years. Thus, the relative risk of suicide in men with AIDS aged 20 to 59 years was 36.30 times (95% confidence limits, 20.45 to 64.42) that of men aged 20 to 59 years without this diagnosis, and 66.15 times (95% confidence limits, 37.38 to 117.06) that of the general population. We conclude that AIDS represents a significant risk factor for suicide.

(JAMA 1988;259:1333-1337)

Author Affiliations
From the Laboratory of Psychopharmacology, Departments of Psychiatry (Drs Marzuk, Tierney, Tardiff, and Mann) and Public Health (Dr Tardiff and Ms Hsu), Cornell University Medical College; and the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (Dr Gross and Mr Morgan), New York.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to Laboratory of Psychopharmacology, Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, 1300 York Ave, New York, NY 10021 (Dr Marzuk).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Screening for HIV: A Review of the Evidence for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
Chou et al.
ANN INTERN MED 2005;143:55-73.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Assessing and Managing Depression in the Terminally Ill Patient
Block and for the American College of Physicians-American So
Focus 2005;3:310-319.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Treatment of Interferon-Induced Psychosis in Patients With Comorbid Hepatitis C and HIV
Hoffman et al.
Psychosomatics 2003;44:417-420.
FULL TEXT  

Suicide Attempts Among Gay and Bisexual Men: Lifetime Prevalence and Antecedents
Paul et al.
AJPH 2002;92:1338-1345.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--2 across the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Spectrum
Inman et al.
Assessment 2002;9:24-30.
ABSTRACT  

A Current Perspective of Suicide and Attempted Suicide
Mann
ANN INTERN MED 2002;136:302-311.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Psychiatric Aspects of HIV Care
AIDS Clin Care 2001;2001:6-6.
FULL TEXT  

Suicide Assessment in a Prison Environment: A Proposed Protocol
CORREIA
Criminal Justice and Behavior 2000;27:581-599.
ABSTRACT  

Suicide: An Overview
Westefeld et al.
The Counseling Psychologist 2000;28:445-510.
ABSTRACT  

Rational Suicide, Hastened Death, and Self-Destructive Behaviors
Silverman
The Counseling Psychologist 2000;28:540-550.
 

Assessing and Managing Depression in the Terminally Ill Patient
Block and for the ACP-ASIM End-of-Life Care Consensus Panel
ANN INTERN MED 2000;132:209-218.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy With Medication for Depressed Gay Men With AIDS or Symptomatic HIV Infection
Lee et al.
Psychiatr. Serv. 1999;50:948-952.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Suicide Risk Assessment: A Review of Risk Factors for Suicide in 100 Patients Who Made Severe Suicide Attempts: Evaluation of Suicide Risk in a Time of Managed Care
Hall et al.
Psychosomatics 1999;40:18-27.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Suicide Attempts Among Seropositive Women in New York City
SIMONI et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 1998;155:1626i-1626.
FULL TEXT  

Suicidal Ideation, Suicide Attempts, and HIV Infection
Kelly et al.
Psychosomatics 1998;39:405-415.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Physician-Assisted Suicide and Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Disease
Slome et al.
NEJM 1997;336:417-421.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Suicide and HIV Infection: Mortality Follow-up of 4147 HIV-Seropositive Military Service Applicants
Dannenberg et al.
JAMA 1996;276:1743-1746.
ABSTRACT  

Depression and HIV+ Disease: A Critical Review
Morris
J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc 1996;2:154-163.
ABSTRACT  

'Now and Again It Really Hits Me': The Impact of an HIV-positive Diagnosis upon Psychosocial Well- being
Green et al.
J Health Psychol 1996;1:125-141.
ABSTRACT  

Survival Trends in Adolescents With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection
Remafedi and Lauer
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 1995;149:1093-1096.
ABSTRACT  

Employers and AIDS: Dealing with the Psychological and Emotional Issues of AIDS in the Workplace
Kemp
The American Review of Public Administration 1995;25:263-278.
ABSTRACT  

Homosexuality
Friedman and Downey
NEJM 1994;331:923-930.
FULL TEXT  

Suicidal Behavior and Gay-Related Stress among Gay and Bisexual Male Adolescents
Rotheram-Borus et al.
Journal of Adolescent Research 1994;9:498-508.
ABSTRACT  

Patient Requests to Hasten Death: Evaluation and Management in Terminal Care
Block and Billings
Arch Intern Med 1994;154:2039-2047.
ABSTRACT  

Prevention of suicide: aspirations and evidence
Gunnell and Frankel
BMJ 1994;308:1227-1233.
FULL TEXT  

AIDS and Rational Suicide: A Counseling Psychology Perspective or a Slide on the Slippery Slope
Rogers and Britton
The Counseling Psychologist 1994;22:171-178.
 

Progress in Psychiatry- First of Two Parts
Michels and Marzuk
NEJM 1993;329:552-560.
FULL TEXT  

Bibliography
Current Sociology 1992;40:105-117.
 

Risk of Suicide Among Persons With AIDS: A National Assessment
Cote et al.
JAMA 1992;268:2066-2068.
ABSTRACT  

Rational Suicide and AIDS: Considerations for the Psychotherapist
Werth
The Counseling Psychologist 1992;20:645-659.
ABSTRACT  

Counseling the HIV-Infected Client: A Psychosocial Model for Assessment and Intervention
Hoffman
The Counseling Psychologist 1991;19:467-542.
ABSTRACT  

Bad News: Delivery, Dialogue, and Dilemmas
Quill and Townsend
Arch Intern Med 1991;151:463-468.
ABSTRACT  

Women Addicts and the Threat of AIDS
Suffet and Lifshitz
Qual Health Res 1991;1:51-79.
ABSTRACT  

Psychiatric home health care for AIDS patients
Frey et al.
Home Health Care Management Practice 1991;3:34-45.
ABSTRACT  

Suicidal Ideation and HIV Testing
Perry et al.
JAMA 1990;263:679-682.
ABSTRACT  

Suicide Mortality in the Maryland State Prison System, 1979 Through 1987
Salive et al.
JAMA 1989;262:365-369.
ABSTRACT  

Public Health Strategies for Confronting AIDS: Legislative and Regulatory Policy in the United States
Gostin
JAMA 1989;261:1621-1630.
ABSTRACT  

AIDS and Suicide in California
Kizer et al.
JAMA 1988;260:1881-1881.
ABSTRACT  

Medically Unnecessary Hospital Use in Children Seropositive for Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Kemper and Forsyth
JAMA 1988;260:1906-1909.
ABSTRACT  

The Risk of Suicide in Persons With AIDS
Beltangady
JAMA 1988;260:29-29.
ABSTRACT  

The Risk of Suicide in Persons With AIDS
Hull et al.
JAMA 1988;260:29-30.
ABSTRACT  

'It's Over, Debbie' and the Euthanasia Debate
Lundberg
JAMA 1988;259:2142-2143.
ABSTRACT  

INCREASED RISK OF SUICIDE FOR AIDS PATIENTS
JWatch General 1988;1988:6-6.
FULL TEXT  

AIDS and Suicide
Glass
JAMA 1988;259:1369-1370.
ABSTRACT