Association of Vision Impairment with Suicide Ideation, Plans, and Attempts Among Adults in the United States

Overview

Journal J Clin Psychol

Publisher Wiley

Specialty Psychology

Date 2022 Aug 26

PMID 36017683

Authors

Othelia E-K Lee

Daejun Park

Junghyun Park

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to investigate the relative strength of association between vision impairment (VI) and suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts among adults in the United States.

Method: The study sample consisted of 214,505 adults, aged 18 years and older. Researchers used data from the 2015-2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in which respondents were asked whether they had any suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts, in the past 12 months.

Results: Approximately, 4.4% of respondents reported experiencing VI, being blind, or having serious difficulty seeing. Compared to their sighted peers, a relatively high proportion of adults with VI had serious thoughts about suicide (9.0%), suicidal plans (3.0%), or suicidal attempts (1.6%) in the past year. The findings showed that individuals with VI may disproportionately experience suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts, after controlling potentially confounding variables (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.36; AOR = 1.27; AOR = 1.40, respectively).

Conclusion: With findings demonstrating such a strong association between VI and suicide, this study suggests the importance of screening for suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts among adults with VI, and the strong need for developing behavioral health services which keep this correlation in mind.

Citing Articles

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Jung H, Jang J PLoS One. 2024; 19(7):e0305777.

PMID: 39038039 PMC: 11262681. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305777.

Visual Impairment and Suicide Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Kim C, Ha A, Shim S, Hong I, Chang I, Kim Y JAMA Netw Open. 2024; 7(4):e247026.

PMID: 38630473 PMC: 11024775. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.7026.

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Suicidal Ideation Among Older People with Visual Impairments Attending an Eye Center During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Hospital-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Tantirattanakulchai P, Hounnaklang N, Pongsachareonnont P, Khambhiphant B, Win N, Tepjan S Clin Ophthalmol. 2023; 17:917-930.

PMID: 36968286 PMC: 10035352. DOI: 10.2147/OPTH.S403003.

Association of vision impairment with suicide ideation, plans, and attempts among adults in the United States.

Lee O, Park D, Park J J Clin Psychol. 2022; 78(11):2197-2213.

PMID: 36017683 PMC: 9804446. DOI: 10.1002/jclp.23437.

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