Table 3. Methods of suicide and attempted suicide in obsessive-compulsive disorder cases and matched controls.
| Method of suicide (n, %) | OCD cases (n=545) | General population controls (n=579) | OR (95% CI)a |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-poisoning | 251 (46.06) | 188 (32.47) | 4.00 (1.13–14.17) |
| Self-injury | 294 (53.94) | 391 (67.53) | 0.25 (0.07–0.89) |
| Hanging, strangulation, suffocation | 117 (21.47) | 168 (29.02) | 0.50 (0.12–2.00) |
| Drowning | 48 (8.81) | 47 (8.12) | 0.33 (0.03–3.20) |
| Jumping or lying before moving object | 40 (7.34) | 50 (8.64) | 0.50 (0.04–5.51) |
| Jumping from a height | 27 (4.95) | 33 (5.70) | – |
| Gassing | 17 (3.12) | 31 (5.35) | – |
| Firearm or explosive | 17 (3.12) | 31 (5.35) | – |
| Cutting or piercing | 9 (1.65) | 11 (1.90) | – |
| Smoke, fire and flames | 8 (1.47) | 8 (1.38) | – |
| Crashing of motor vehicle | 6 (1.10) | 7 (1.21) | – |
| Other means | 5 (0.92) | 5 (0.86) | – |
| Method of attempted suicideb (n, %) | OCD cases (n=4 297) | General population controls (n=8 906) | OR (95% CI) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-poisoning | 3316 (77.17) | 4920 (55.24) | 2.33 (1.90–2.87) |
| Self-injury | 1699 (39.54) | 4647 (52.18) | 0.78 (0.65–0.92) |
| Cutting or piercing | 860 (20.01) | 1139 (12.79) | 1.72 (1.36–2.17) |
| Gassing | 165 (3.84) | 212 (2.38) | 1.34 (0.81–2.20) |
| Hanging, strangulation, suffocation | 133 (3.10) | 118 (1.32) | 2.75 (1.51–5.02) |
| Jumping from a height | 97 (2.26) | 148 (1.66) | 2.28 (1.20–4.35) |
| Smoke, fire and flames | 52 (1.21) | 55 (0.62) | 3.57 (1.16–11.02) |
| Jumping or lying before moving object | 34 (0.79) | 45 (0.51) | 4.31 (1.40–13.27) |
| Drowning | 21 (0.49) | 45 (0.51) | 1.00 (0.32–3.10) |
| Crashing of motor vehicle | 21 (0.49) | 30 (0.34) | 3.77 (1.03–13.82) |
| Firearm or explosive | 10 (0.23) | 35 (0.39) | 0.22 (0.02–1.89) |
| Other means | 632 (14.71) | 3 003 (33.72) | 0.44 (0.35–0.55) |
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; OCD, obsessive–compulsive disorder; OR, odds ratio.
a
Odds ratios for some of the methods and groups could not be calculated owing to small numbers.
b
Column totals for the methods of attempted suicide do not add up to the total of individuals who attempted suicide because the same person may have attempted suicide more than once using different methods in each occasion.