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Suicide rates may be higher in stem cell transplant recipients
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Europeans who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were more likely to commit suicide than those in the general population, according to results of a case-control study.
Researchers from several sites in Europe suggested that suicides and accidental deaths have not been sufficiently studied in patients who have received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
The current case-control study investigated factors linked to suicide or accidental death events for 294,922 patients who underwent autologous or allogeneic transplantation between 1980 and 2009.
The 10-year cumulative incidence rate of suicide among these patients was 101.8 per 100,000 patients, according to the results. The 10-year rate of accidental death was 55.6 per 100,000.
After transplant, the standardized mortality ratio was 2.12 (P<.001), and the absolute excess risk for suicide was 10.91. These rates were higher than in the European general population for 100,000 deaths.
For accidental death after transplant, the standardized mortality ratio was 1.23 (P<.05) and the absolute excess risk was 2.54.
The case-control study results indicated that relapses occurred more frequently in patients who committed suicide after transplantation. Relapses occurred in 37% of patients who underwent autologous transplantation and committed suicide, compared with 18% among those who died from other causes (P<.0001).
Among patients who received allogeneic transplantation, chronic graft-versus-host disease was higher in the suicide group than in those who died from other causes, 64% vs. 37% (P=.001).
“There is an excess of deaths due to suicide and accidents in patients after undergoing [hematopoietic stem cell transplantation] as compared with the European general population,” the researchers concluded.
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