Alcohol Use Disorder Linked to Increased Odds of Suicide Mortality

Findings show similarly increased risk in men and women based on pooled odds ratio from longitudinal studies

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, March 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with suicide mortality, with a similar association seen across the sexes, according to a review and meta-analysis published online March 12 in JAMA Network Open.

Shannon Lange, M.P.H., Ph.D., from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, and colleagues estimated the sex-specific association between AUD and suicide mortality in a systematic review and meta-analysis. Data were obtained from 24 studies with 37,870,699 participants (23 risk estimates for male and 17 for female participants).

The researchers found that for both male and female participants, study design (i.e., longitudinal versus cross-sectional) affected the observed association between AUD and suicide mortality (log odds ratios [95 percent confidence intervals], 0.68 [0.08 to 1.28] and 1.41 [0.57 to 2.24], respectively) in sex-specific meta-regression models. Among longitudinal studies, the pooled odds ratios (95 percent confidence intervals) were 2.68 (1.86 to 3.87) and 2.39 (1.50 to 3.81) for men and women, respectively.

“Alcohol use disorder is associated with higher odds of death by suicide, an association that is similar across the sexes,” the authors write. “It is evident that identifying and treating AUD is an important component of a comprehensive suicide prevention strategy.”