Substance use and risk of suicide among adults who sought mental health and addiction specialty services through a centralised intake process in Nova Scotia: a cross-sectional study
Objectives The objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to estimate the prevalence of suicide risk among individuals seeking mental health and addiction (MHA) services in Nova Scotia; (2) to examine the relationship between substance use and suicide risk among this population.Setting MHA intake...
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BMJ Publishing Group
2024-10-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/10/e086487.full |
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| author | JianLi Wang Matiwos Soboka Sherry H Stewart Philip Tibbo |
| author_facet | JianLi Wang Matiwos Soboka Sherry H Stewart Philip Tibbo |
| author_sort | JianLi Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives The objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to estimate the prevalence of suicide risk among individuals seeking mental health and addiction (MHA) services in Nova Scotia; (2) to examine the relationship between substance use and suicide risk among this population.Setting MHA intake programme, a province-wide centralised intake process established in 2019 by the Department of Health and Wellness of Nova Scotia.Participants We included 22 500 MHA intake clients aged 19–64 years old who contacted MHA intake from 2020 to 2021.Primary outcome measures During the intake assessment, clients were assessed for suicide risk (past suicide attempt, suicidal ideation during the interview or 2 weeks before the interview).Results The lifetime prevalence of suicide attempt was 25.25% in the MHA clients. The prevalence of mild and moderate/high suicide risk was 34.14% and 4.08%, respectively. Clients who used hallucinogens had the highest prevalence of mild and moderate/high suicide risk (61.3% and 12.9%, respectively), followed by amphetamine/methamphetamine (47.6% and 13.3%, respectively) and sedative/hypnotics (47.2% and 8.9%, respectively) users. Stimulant (aOR=1.84, 95% CI 1.23 to 2.75) and hallucinogen (aOR=3.54, 95% CI 1.96 to 6.43) use were associated with increased odds of moderate/high suicide risk compared with denying current use. Additionally, alcohol (aOR=1.17, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.30) and tobacco (aOR=1.20, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.30) use were associated with increased odds of mild suicide risk.Conclusion Suicide behaviours were prevalent among clients seeking MHA services. Substance use is an important factor associated with suicide risk in this population. This result underscored the importance of considering substance use patterns when assessing suicide risk and highlighted the need for targeted interventions and preventive measures for individuals engaging in substance use. Future interventional studies are needed to identify and evaluate effective strategies for reducing substance use and suicide risk among clients of MHA central intake. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-978e7f49c0ec4fcaae599ee1aa862dcc |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-978e7f49c0ec4fcaae599ee1aa862dcc2025-08-20T02:12:50ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552024-10-01141010.1136/bmjopen-2024-086487Substance use and risk of suicide among adults who sought mental health and addiction specialty services through a centralised intake process in Nova Scotia: a cross-sectional studyJianLi Wang0Matiwos Soboka1Sherry H Stewart2Philip Tibbo3Health Publicity and Education Center of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, Guangdong, ChinaDepartment of Community Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, CanadaObjectives The objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to estimate the prevalence of suicide risk among individuals seeking mental health and addiction (MHA) services in Nova Scotia; (2) to examine the relationship between substance use and suicide risk among this population.Setting MHA intake programme, a province-wide centralised intake process established in 2019 by the Department of Health and Wellness of Nova Scotia.Participants We included 22 500 MHA intake clients aged 19–64 years old who contacted MHA intake from 2020 to 2021.Primary outcome measures During the intake assessment, clients were assessed for suicide risk (past suicide attempt, suicidal ideation during the interview or 2 weeks before the interview).Results The lifetime prevalence of suicide attempt was 25.25% in the MHA clients. The prevalence of mild and moderate/high suicide risk was 34.14% and 4.08%, respectively. Clients who used hallucinogens had the highest prevalence of mild and moderate/high suicide risk (61.3% and 12.9%, respectively), followed by amphetamine/methamphetamine (47.6% and 13.3%, respectively) and sedative/hypnotics (47.2% and 8.9%, respectively) users. Stimulant (aOR=1.84, 95% CI 1.23 to 2.75) and hallucinogen (aOR=3.54, 95% CI 1.96 to 6.43) use were associated with increased odds of moderate/high suicide risk compared with denying current use. Additionally, alcohol (aOR=1.17, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.30) and tobacco (aOR=1.20, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.30) use were associated with increased odds of mild suicide risk.Conclusion Suicide behaviours were prevalent among clients seeking MHA services. Substance use is an important factor associated with suicide risk in this population. This result underscored the importance of considering substance use patterns when assessing suicide risk and highlighted the need for targeted interventions and preventive measures for individuals engaging in substance use. Future interventional studies are needed to identify and evaluate effective strategies for reducing substance use and suicide risk among clients of MHA central intake.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/10/e086487.full |
| spellingShingle | JianLi Wang Matiwos Soboka Sherry H Stewart Philip Tibbo Substance use and risk of suicide among adults who sought mental health and addiction specialty services through a centralised intake process in Nova Scotia: a cross-sectional study BMJ Open |
| title | Substance use and risk of suicide among adults who sought mental health and addiction specialty services through a centralised intake process in Nova Scotia: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full | Substance use and risk of suicide among adults who sought mental health and addiction specialty services through a centralised intake process in Nova Scotia: a cross-sectional study |
| title_fullStr | Substance use and risk of suicide among adults who sought mental health and addiction specialty services through a centralised intake process in Nova Scotia: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Substance use and risk of suicide among adults who sought mental health and addiction specialty services through a centralised intake process in Nova Scotia: a cross-sectional study |
| title_short | Substance use and risk of suicide among adults who sought mental health and addiction specialty services through a centralised intake process in Nova Scotia: a cross-sectional study |
| title_sort | substance use and risk of suicide among adults who sought mental health and addiction specialty services through a centralised intake process in nova scotia a cross sectional study |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/10/e086487.full |
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