Suicide in patients with stroke: a population-based study of suicide victims during the years 1988-2007 in northern Finland.

The authors studied the prevalence of stroke among suicide victims and whether prestroke depression had influence on suicide process. The authors used a comprehensive database of all suicides (N=2,283) committed in Northern Finland over a period of 15 years with information on all hospital-treated somatic and psychiatric disorders. Of the total suicide data population, 3.4% had suffered from stroke. After adjusting for age and sex, prestroke depression in stroke victims increased the hazard of suicide up to 2.2-fold compared to victims with stroke but without any lifetime depression. The high-risk period for suicide was 2 years after stroke.