Hostname: page-component-6766d58669-kn6lq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-14T20:32:49.738Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Suicidal transition rates and their predictors in the adult general population: a repeated survey over 21 years in France

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2024

Fabrice Jollant*
Affiliation:
Faculté de médecine, Université Paris-Saclay, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France Department of Psychiatry, Bicêtre Hospital, AP-HP, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France Department of Psychiatry, CHU Nîmes, Univ Montpellier, Nîmes, France Department of Psychiatry and McGill Group for Suicide Studies, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
Christophe Leon
Affiliation:
Health Promotion and Prevention Division, Mental Health Unit, Santé Publique France, Saint-Maurice, France
*
Corresponding author: Fabrice Jollant; Email: fabrice.jollant@universite-paris-saclay.fr

Abstract

Background

The “suicidal transition” from ideation to an act has become a specific topic of research. However, rates in the general population, variations across time and risk factors are unclear.

Methods

Data were collected from the phone survey Baromètre Santé among 18–75-year-olds in France. Seven independent samples interviewed between 2000 and 2021 (total N = 133,827 people; 51.3% females) were questioned about suicidal ideation and attempts over the previous 12 months. Transition was calculated as the weighted ratio of attempt on ideation 12-month rates.

Results

Mean 12-month rates of suicidal ideation, attempts and transition were 4.7% (95% Confidence Interval (CI) (4.6–4.8)), 0.5% (95% CI (0.4–0.5)) and 7.7% (95% CI (6.8–8.6)), respectively. Transition rates varied between 4.5 and 11.9% across surveys. In multivariable analyses, higher transitions rates were associated with a previous suicide attempt (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) = 11.1 95% CI (7.9–15.6)); 18–25 vs 26–55-year-olds (1.8 95% CI (1.2–2.8)); lower vs higher income (1.7 95% CI (1.0–2.7); and lower vs higher professional categories (aOR around 1.9). No significant association was found with gender, education level, employment status, living alone, urbanicity, current major depression, daily smoking, weekly heavy drinking, cannabis use, and body mass index.

Conclusions

Most people with suicidal ideation do not attempt suicide. These findings emphasize the need to avoid generic terms such as “suicidality”, and to increase research on suicidal transition to improve prevention and prediction. They may also inform the organization of suicide prevention in the general population.

Information

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association
Figure 0

Table 1. Twelve-month rates of suicidal ideas, suicide attempts and suicidal transition over the seven surveys between 2000 and 2021, and in total

Figure 1

Figure 1. Variations in twelve-month rates (in %) of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and suicidal transition over the seven surveys between 2000 and 2021.

Figure 2

Table 2. Twelve-month suicidal transition rates in males and females over the seven surveys between 2000 and 2021 and in total, and group comparisons

Figure 3

Figure 2. Variations in twelve-month suicidal transition rates (in %) in males and females and in total over the seven surveys between 2000 and 2021.

Figure 4

Table 3. Twelve-month suicidal transition rates (in %) in the three age groups over the seven surveys between 2000 and 2021 and in total, and group comparisons

Figure 5

Figure 3. Variations in twelve-month suicidal transition rates (in %) in the three age groups and in total over the seven surveys between 2000 and 2021.

Figure 6

Table 4. Sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with the suicidal transition rate in univariate and multivariable analyses (pooled data from 2010 to 2021)

Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.