Table 1.
Research reporting prevalence of suicide ideation in youth and adults with insomnia symptoms and sleep disturbance among youth, adult, and older adult suicide attempters (fatal and nonfatal)
| Youth | Adults | Older adults | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suicide ideation | Prevalence of suicide ideation was around 25% for French adolescents reporting insomnia symptoms.17 | In a longitudinal study of 405 military veterans meeting criteria for insomnia disorder, 32% reported suicide ideation at baseline.18 | – |
| Nonfatal suicide attempts | About 7% of French adolescents with insomnia symptoms reported a prior suicide attempt.17 About 60% of adolescents reporting intentional self-harm or suicide-related behavior at age 15–17 years reported sleeping problems at age 12–14 years.19 About 81% of adolescent suicide-attempt survivors reported sleep disturbances.20 |
About 46% of adult suicide-attempt survivors reported global insomnia symptoms and 92% reported difficulties with either initial, middle, or terminal insomnia.21 Around 89% of adult suicide-attempt survivors reported sleep disturbances, which included initial (73%), middle (69%), and terminal insomnia (58%).22 |
– |
| Suicide | Around 30% of US adolescent suicide decedents experienced insomnia in the week preceding suicide and 32% experienced symptoms around the time of death.23 About 33% of rural Chinese youth suicide decedents experienced insomnia symptoms in the week preceding suicide.24 |
Between 28 and 37% of Japanese suicide decedents experienced initial, middle, or terminal insomnia.25 About 60% of US military veteran suicide decedents with psychiatric symptoms reported sleep problems during a VHA visit in the last year of life (40% reported sleep problems at their last VHA visit). About 13% without psychiatric symptoms reported sleep problems (9% at last visit).192 |
About 11% of Taiwanese suicide decedents had a history of insomnia symptoms.26 |
Notes: Initial insomnia, sleep-onset difficulty; middle insomnia, sleep-maintenance difficulty; terminal insomnia, early-morning awakening.
Abbreviation: VHA, Veterans Health Administration.