Suicide Rates Among Patients Receiving Palliative Care-Descriptive Results of a National Cohort Study

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Palliative Care
• Public Health

Background:

• Terminal oncological disease is a significant risk factor for suicide.
• The impact of palliative care on suicide rates in cancer patients is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare suicide rates in oncological patients receiving palliative care versus a general oncological cohort.
• To investigate the association between palliative care and suicide mortality in cancer patients.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study comparing palliative care patients (n=1524) with a matched control group from the Austrian Cancer Registry (n=794,986).
• Competing risk models were used to analyze cumulative incidences of death by suicide.
• Analyses were stratified by sex and common diagnostic groups.

Main Results:

• No significant excess suicide mortality was observed in the palliative care group (p=0.117).
• This finding persisted even when including potential suicide cases within the palliative care sample (p=0.467).
• A higher cumulative suicide incidence was noted in palliative care patients with pancreatic cancer (p=0.008).

Conclusions:

• Palliative care may mitigate the elevated suicide risk in terminally ill cancer patients.
• Comprehensive end-of-life care, addressing psychosocial needs, is crucial.
• Further research into specific cancer types, like pancreatic cancer, is warranted.