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Factors associated with suicidal ideation risk in head and neck cancer: A longitudinal study
Author(s) -
Chang DunCheng,
Chen Andy WeiGe,
Lo YuSheng,
Chuang YiChing,
Chen MuKuan
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.27843
Subject(s) - suicidal ideation , logistic regression , depression (economics) , medicine , head and neck cancer , odds ratio , cancer , receiver operating characteristic , clinical psychology , distress , psychiatry , poison control , psychology , injury prevention , emergency medicine , economics , macroeconomics
Objectives/Hypothesis The risk factors associated with suicidal ideation among patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) have rarely been investigated. Thus, this study proposed an effective screening model to facilitate the identification of patients with HNC who are at risk of committing suicide. Study Design Retrospective longitudinal study. Methods We recruited 286 inpatients with HNC who were referred to the psychiatry department for an emotional distress assessment during cancer treatment. Sociodemographic and clinical factors, as well as Distress Thermometer (DT) scoring, were gathered and analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. Results Among the patients, 27 (9.4%) were recognized as having suicidal ideation. A logistic regression analysis revealed five significant indicators associated with suicidal ideation, namely depression (odds ratio [OR]: 42.83), dysphoria (OR: 8.06), hypopharyngeal cancer (OR: 4.61), cancer history (OR: 4.53), and average DT scores (OR: 1.84). Based on the receiver operating characteristic and logistic regression, the model can predict suicidal ideation with 93.4% accuracy (area under the curve value). Conclusions Our findings provide strong evidence that patients with depression, hypopharyngeal cancer, higher DT scores, and previous cancer history can be quickly screened for suicidal ideation, which may help to prevent suicide events in patients with HNC. Level of Evidence 3b Laryngoscope , 129:2491–2495, 2019