Retrospective cohort study of suicide attempts and suicide deaths among spouses of patients with cancer in Denmark

Little is known about the risk of suicidal behavior in relation to having a spouse with a cancer diagnosis. A retrospective nationwide cohort study in Denmark included 409,338 spouses of patients with a cancer diagnoses (‘exposed group’) between 1986 and 2015, and 2,046,682 individuals whose spouse did not have a cancer diagnosis in the same period, randomly selected from the general population and matched by birth year and sex (‘unexposed group’). During the follow-up, the incidence rate of suicide attempt was 62.6 per 100,000 person-years in the exposed group versus 50.5 per 100,000 person-years in the unexposed group (HR 1.28; 95% CI 1.23-1.34). The incidence rate of suicide death was 16.3 per 100,000 person-years in the exposed group versus 11.4 per 100,000 person-years in the unexposed group (HR 1.47; 95% CI 1.35-1.60). The increased risk was particularly notable in the first year after the diagnosis, and when the cancer was diagnosed at an advanced stage or when the spouse died after the cancer diagnosis. The authors conclude that these findings suggest a need for awareness to prevent suicidal behaviors among spouses of patients with cancer.