The study included data from 7 million people who lived in Denmark between 1980 and 2011. Of that number, 800,000 people were hospitalized for infections.
JAMA Psychiatry published the study on Aug. 10.
Here are eight takeaways:
1. The researchers found people hospitalized for infections to be 42 percent more likely to die of suicide than those people with no serious infections.
2. Those patients hospitalized for HIV, AIDS or liver infection hepatitis are at the greatest suicide risk.
3. The study found 32,700 of the 800,000 hospitalized patients committed suicide.
4. Additionally, longer treatment and a greater number of contracted infections increased a patient’s suicide risk.
5. The researchers did not identify a provable cause-and-effect connection.
6. The researchers believe the psychological aspect of serious infections may only partly lead to the heightened suicide risk; they believe the brain inflammation caused by infections may also impact suicide risk.
7. Inflammation may contribute to depression, and the researchers believe their study points to the idea that suicidal behavior may be classified as an inflammatory disorder to an extent.
8. Further studies will determine whether infections directly associate with suicide risk.
More articles on quality & infection control:
3 tips to improve nurse safety
10% boost in hand hygiene compliance reduced HAIs by 6%: 4 takeaways
STAT: Is it impeccable timing or do biotech executives have the upper hand in the trading game?
