Suicide Attempts, Suicide Mortality Up for Transgender Individuals

Increased rates seen for suicide attempts, suicide mortality, suicide-unrelated mortality, all-cause mortality versus nontransgender individuals

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, June 30, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Transgender individuals have increased rates of suicide attempts and suicide mortality, according to a study published in the June 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Annette Erlangsen, Ph.D., from the Mental Health Centre Copenhagen in Denmark, and colleagues examined the rates of suicide attempts and mortality among transgender and nontransgender individuals in a nationwide cohort study involving people aged 15 years and older who lived in Demark between Jan. 1, 1980, and Dec. 31, 2021. A total of 6,657,456 study participants were followed up during 171,023,873 person-years.

The researchers identified 3,759 individuals (0.06 percent) as transgender at a median age of 22 years, who were followed for 21,404 person-years. During this time, there were 92 suicide attempts, 12 suicides, and 245 suicide-unrelated deaths. Standardized suicide attempt rates were 498 and 71 per 100,000 person-years for transgender and nontransgender persons, respectively (adjusted incidence rate ratio [aIRR], 7.7). Standardized suicide mortality rates were 75 and 21 per 100,000 person-years for transgender and nontransgender individuals, respectively (aIRR, 3.5). Standardized suicide-unrelated mortality rates and standardized all-cause mortality rates were also increased for transgender persons (aIRRs, 1.9 and 2.0, respectively). During the 42 years covered, the rates of suicide attempts and mortality decreased, but aIRRs remained significantly elevated up to and including 2021 for suicide attempts, suicide mortality, suicide-unrelated mortality, and all-cause mortality (aIRRs, 6.6, 2.8, 1.7, and 1.7, respectively).

“Efforts to reduce suicidality among transgender individuals are recommended,” the authors write. “These could include direct measures, such as encouragements to seek help in situations of personal distress.”

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