Ethnicity and suicide attempt: analysis in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

Evidence is mixed as to whether White Europeans are at a higher risk for suicide attempts or completions compared to other ethnic groups. The present analysis assessed whether risk for suicide attempt was associated with White European ethnicity in 907 subjects with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Subjects were diagnosed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, and ethnicity was determined by self-report. Subjects were recruited from psychiatric care centers in Toronto, Canada. Logistic regression correcting for clinical covariates like age, gender and diagnosis, was used in this study.

We found no difference in suicide attempter status in white and non-white subjects who were diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Our study does not support the evidence that White-European patients in North America are at higher risk for suicide attempt compared to non-European descent subjects. However, this result has to be replicated in larger studies in patients with these disorders.