Chronic Pain, Hopelessness, and Suicide Risk Among Adult Medical Inpatients

Medically ill adults are at elevated risk for suicide. Chronic pain and hopelessness are associated with suicide; however, few studies have examined the interaction between chronic pain and hopelessness in predicting suicide risk among hospitalized adults.

This study aimed to describe the association between chronic pain, hopelessness, and suicide risk, defined as recent suicidal ideation or lifetime suicidal behavior. In addition, we examined the interaction between chronic pain and hopelessness.

This was a secondary analysis of a multisite study to validate the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) among adult medical inpatients. Participants reported if they experienced chronic pain that impacted daily life and if they felt hopeless about their medical condition and provided their current pain rating on a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being the most severe pain. A t-test compared pain severity scores by ASQ outcome. A binary logistic regression model described the association between chronic pain, hopelessness, and suicide risk; parameter estimates are expressed as odds ratios (OR) for interpretation. The interaction between chronic pain and hopelessness was examined in both the transformed (logit) and natural (probability) scales of the generalized linear model.

The sample included 720 participants (53.2% male, 62.4% White, mean age: 50.1 [16.3] years, range = 18-93). On the ASQ, 15.7% (113/720) of patients screened positive. Half (360/720) of the sample self-reported chronic pain. Individuals who screened positive had higher pain rating scores than those who screened negative (t = -4.2, df = 147.6, P < 0.001). Among all patients, 27.2% (196/720) felt hopeless about their medical condition. In the logistic regression model, patients with chronic pain (adjusted OR: 2.29, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.21-4.43, P = 0.01) or hopelessness (adjusted OR: 5.69, 95% CI: 2.52-12.64, P < 0.001) had greater odds of screening positive on the ASQ. The interaction effect between pain and hopelessness was not significant in the transformed (B = -0.15, 95% CI: -1.11 to 0.82, P = 0.76) or natural (B = 0.08, 95% CI: -0.07 to 0.23, P = 0.28) scale.

There were significant independent associations between (1) chronic pain and suicide risk and between (2) hopelessness and suicide risk. Future research should examine the temporality and mechanisms underlying these relationships to inform prevention efforts for medically ill adults.