Suicidal Ideation and Behaviours after Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is prevalent among many populations and existing data suggest that those with TBI are at increased risk for death by suicide. This systematic review serves as an update to a previous review, with the aim of evaluating the current state of evidence regarding prevalence and risk of suicide deaths, post-TBI suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, and treatments to reduce suicide-related outcomes among TBI survivors. Review procedures followed the PRISMA statement guidelines. In all, 1014 abstracts and 83 full-text articles were reviewed to identify 16 studies meeting inclusion criteria. Risk of bias for individual studies ranged from low to high, and very few studies were designed to examine a priori hypotheses related to suicide outcomes of interest. Overall, findings from this systematic review supported an increased risk of suicide among TBI survivors compared to those with no history of TBI. Evidence pertaining to suicidal thoughts and attempts was less clear, mainly due to heterogeneity of methodological quality across studies. One small randomised controlled trial was identified that targeted suicide prevention in TBI survivors. Further research is needed to identify the prevalence of post-TBI ideation and attempts, and to establish evidence-based suicide prevention practices among TBI survivors.