Korean J Schizophr Res.  2020 Apr;23(1):8-14. 10.16946/kjsr.2020.23.1.8.

Suicidality and Related Psychopathology across Different Stages of Schizophrenia

• Joh E
• Park K
• Lee DK
• Lee H
• Kim CE
• Ryu S

• KMID: 2500471
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.16946/kjsr.2020.23.1.8

Abstract

Objectives
This study aimed to investigate suicidal behaviors and the related psychopathology across the different stages of schizophrenia.
Methods
We recruited 131 patients with schizophrenia and categorized them into two groups, according to the duration of illness (DI) as follows: ≤10 years (n=39) and >10 years (n=92). Psychopathology and suicidality were assessed using the 18-item Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS-18) and the suicidality module from the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview, respectively.
Results
One-quarter of the patients with a DI ≤10 years and nearly one-sixth of the patients with a DI >10 years experienced suicidal behaviors in the previous month. Suicidality scores were significantly associated with the “affect” factor scores of the BPRS-18 in patients with a DI ≤10 years (β=0.55, p=0.003) and with the “resistance” factor scores in patients with a DI of >10 years (β=0.29, p=0.006).
Conclusion
The present study demonstrated that psychopathological factors were differentially associated with suicidality in patients with schizophrenia according to the illness stage. Our findings suggest that for effective suicide prevention, different approaches are required for the management of each stage of schizophrenia.

Keyword

Psychopathology; Schizophrenia; Suicidal behavior; Suicidality

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