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Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to understand the predictors of suicidal ideation in chronic schizophrenia.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to understand demographic data impact on suicide ideations in schizophrenia patients.
Methods: Purposive sampling was employed to recruit 170 participants from five hospitals in northern Taiwan.Structural questionnaires used in this study including demographic data, the short form of Auditory Hallucination Assessment Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory–II, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS) were administered to all participants.
Results: The results indicated that age (odds ratio = 0.91, p = .002), and sex (odds ratio = 0.39, p = .017), comorbid depression (odds ratio = 7.06, p = .034), Beliefs subscale of AHAS (odds ratio = 1.20, p = .024), BDI-II(odds ratio = 1.05, p = .028), and BAI (odds ratio = 1.08, p = .001) were significant predictors of suicide ideation. Females have a higher risk of suicidal ideations than males. Younger participants tend to have stronger suicidal ideations than elder participants. The schizophrenia patients with comorbidity of depression had a 7.06 times higher risk for suicidal ideations than those who did not suffer from depressed mood. The higher severity of patients’ Beliefs subscales of auditory hallucination, the higher severity of patients’ depressive and anxiety symptoms, the stronger the suicide ideations were.
Conclusion: Female, younger and comorbid depression depressive mood, anxiety symptoms and symptoms of Beliefs of auditory hallucinations are associated with suicide ideations. The research results may give notices to medical professionals in assessing suicide risk in schizophrenia patients with depressed mood or anxious symptoms. Psychiatric workers need to understand and educate patients suffering from auditory hallucinations with correct beliefs for auditory hallucinations, which could consequently decrease the suicide risks for patients.