Increased Suicide Attempts Seen in Parents With a Child Diagnosed With Cancer

Higher risk observed with aggressive or fatal diagnosis and during the first few years after diagnosis

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Jan. 18, 2024 (HealthDay News) — There is an increased risk for parental suicide attempt during the first years after a child’s cancer diagnosis, according to a study published online Jan. 16 in PLOS Medicine.

Qianwei Liu, M.D., Ph.D., from Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, and colleagues investigated the risk for suicide attempt and death by suicide in relation to having a child with cancer. The analysis included 106,005 parents with a child diagnosed with cancer in Denmark (1978 to 2016) or Sweden (1973 to 2014) and roughly 1.06 million matched unexposed parents.

The researchers found that during a median follow-up of 7.3 and 7.2 years for the exposed and unexposed parents, respectively, there was an increased risk seen for parental suicide attempt during the first years after a child’s cancer diagnosis (hazard ratio [HR], 1.15). Risk was even higher when the child was aged 18 years or younger at diagnosis (HR, 1.25), when the child was diagnosed with a highly aggressive cancer (HR, 1.60), or when the child died due to cancer (HR, 1.63). However, this increased risk did not persist over time thereafter.

“Our findings suggest extended clinical awareness of suicide attempt among parents of children with cancer, especially during the first few years after cancer diagnosis,” the authors write.