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 Among more than 70,000 women followed for almost 20 years, those who
were the most socially connected were about 75 percent less likely
than the least-connected to die by suicide.
"It’s an important problem," said Dr. Alexander Tsai, of
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "Suicide is one of the top
10 leading causes of death among women, and rates are climbing."
Tsai told Reuters Health that society's response to suicide tends to
be focused on mental illness, but it needs to be broader.
"Practically speaking, I would say one important take-home message
is that there are many potential factors that may lead people to
take their lives," he said.
For the new study, the researchers used data from 72,607 U.S. nurses
aged 46 to 71 years old in 1992, who were followed until 2010, or
until they died.
The nurses were asked a series of questions to determine their level
of “social integration,” such as how many friends they had, how
often they talked with friends, whether they were married. They were
also asked about participation in religious and other social groups.
Based on their answers, researchers ranked their level of
connectedness. About 43 percent of the women were in the highest
social connectedness category while about 8 percent fell into the
lowest group.
During those 18 years, there were 43 suicides among all
participants.
Overall, women with the highest and second-highest levels of social
connectedness were 74 percent and 77 percent, respectively, less
likely to die by suicide during the study than those in the
lowest-connectedness group.
According to Tsai, the researchers worried that those with the
fewest social connections would also be those with mental illnesses,
which might raise their suicide risk. But the study team took mental
illnesses into account during their analysis, and the results held.
He also said that depression was not common among the women in the
study overall.
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Previously, Tsai and his colleagues looked at the link between
social connections and suicide among men and found a similar result
(see Reuters Health story of July 16, 2014 here:
http://reut.rs/1IqOMap).
"Like a lot of things in a research journal, this really calls for
more research," said Dr. Eric Caine, of the Injury Control Research
Center for Suicide Prevention at the University of Rochester Medical
Center in New York.
For example, Caine told Reuters Health, the results invite
researchers to ask how and when people should take action to prevent
possible suicide.
He said the U.S. military had some success in implementing a social
intervention among Air Force members, but there are other potential
interventions that are being explored, including school-based
programs.
"We’ve got to make for healthier environments," said Caine, who
wrote an editorial accompanying the new study in JAMA Psychiatry.
Tsai said social integration goes beyond just having close friends.
"Participating in a broad range of social relationships – not just
friends and relatives – but religious and social organizations can
be good for your health," he said.
Doctors may also benefit from knowing about their patients' social
connections, Tsai said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1IsjhkN and http://bit.ly/1IsjmF0 JAMA
Psychiatry, online July 29, 2015.
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