Sex differences in completed suicide by schizophrenic patients: a meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis was conducted on all studies of suicide mortality in follow-up studies of schizophrenic patients that presented data for male and female patients separately. The percentage of deaths from suicide was significantly greater for the male schizophrenic patients than for the female schizophrenic patients in studies where both sexes were included. Regression equations devised to predict the percentage of deaths from suicide after all of the sample had died estimated that 0.50% of male schizophrenic patients would die from suicide as compared to 0.20% of female schizophrenic patients. Suggestions are made for future research.