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While women have a lower rate of suicide completion that men - likely because they tend to use less violent means - they have a higher rate of suicide attempts, noted the study's principal investigator, Alexander B. Niculescu III, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and medical neuroscience at the IU School of Medicine.
Researchers have identified blood-based biomarkers and developed questionnaire-based apps that may help clinicians identify which of their female patients being treated for psychiatric disorders are at greatest risk of suicidal ideation or behavior.
In combination, the biomarkers and apps were able to predict future instances of suicidal thoughts with 82 percent accuracy, and future suicide-associated hospitalizations with 78 percent accuracy.
While the biomarkers and apps were effective in predicting suicidality, Dr. Niculescu cautioned that because the subjects in both studies had been diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses, how well the biomarkers would work among people who have not been diagnosed with a psychiatric disease is not known.
Category(s):Suicide Prevention, Women's Issues
Source material from Indiana University School of Medicine
