Transgender individuals at higher risk for suicide than nontransgender population

Key akeaways

• Transgender individuals were at higher risk suicide attempt and mortality than nontransgender individuals.
• Rates of suicide and all-cause mortality declined in the transgender population over 42 years.

Transgender individuals may be at significantly higher risk for suicide compared the nontransgender population, according to a study published in JAMA.

“Transgender individuals identified through hospital records and administrative records of legal change of gender had significantly higher rates of suicide attempt, suicide mortality, suicide-unrelated mortality, and all-cause mortality compared with the nontransgender population,” Annette Erlangsen, PhD, head of Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention, and colleagues wrote.

In a nationwide retrospective cohort study using data on 6,657,456 Danish-born individual aged 15 years or older between Jan 1, 1980 and Dec 31, 2021, a total of 3,759 transgender individuals were identified and followed up during 21,404 person-years. Throughout the study period, 92 suicide attempts, 12 suicides and 245 suicide occurred within this population.

The researchers found that despite declining rates of suicide attempts and mortality throughout the 42 years studied, the adjusted incidence rate ratio (aIRR) remained significantly elevated for suicide attempts (aIRR, 6.6; 95% CI, 4.5-9.5), suicide mortality (aIRR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.3-5.9), suicide-unrelated mortality (aIRR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.5-2.1) and all-cause mortality (aIRR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.4-2.1).

“Despite generally declining rates over time for all four outcomes among both transgender and nontransgender individuals living in Denmark, aIRRs remained statistically significantly elevated throughout the study period, reflecting a persistently higher risk suicide attempt and mortality among transgender individuals,” Erlangsen and colleagues wrote.