Study Finds That Sex, Ethnicity May Impact Risk of Suicide After Concussion

Traumatic brain injuries are among the most difficult injuries to recover from. On top of causing issues such as speech difficulties and problems with logic, studies have found that individuals who sustain long-lasting symptoms from their injuries are more likely to develop mental health problems, including  post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and suicidal thoughts.

Up to 30% of those who survive brain injuries go on to develop post-concussion syndrome, a condition that refers to long-term symptoms after a concussion. Common symptoms of post-concussive syndrome include headaches, brain fog, nausea, blurry vision and memory problems.

An estimated 80% of concussion patients who develop postconcussion syndrome report experiencing symptoms such as suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. Now a study that was recently published in “JAMA Network Open” revealed that ethnicity and sex may also have an impact on the risk of suicide after suffering a concussion.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh used data obtained from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey that was collected from 2017 to 2019 from 28,442 respondents. They used this data to examine the association between reported suicide attempts with concussion history, ethnicity and race.

They built two Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection decision tree models, one of which focused on suicide attempts without depression history while the other centered on suicide attempts with depression history. The decision trees allowed the research to uncover a correlation between concussion, sex and race history with suicide attempts. Unsurprisingly, there was a strong association between depression history and suicide attempts while concussions increased the risk of suicide attempts for those with depression.

Black, Latino/Hispanic and multiracial individuals exhibited an increased risk for suicide with depression history, as compared to other races. Furthermore, American Indian, Black and Hispanic races also had an increased risk of suicide attempts with no depression history, when compared to other races.

Experts estimate that around 2.8 million Americans sustain traumatic brain injuries every year. Some studies have shown that people with a history of depression, PTSD, anxiety, major life stressors, poor coping skills, and a poor social support network are more likely to develop post-concussion syndrome after a brain injury.

Suicidal thoughts often arise when such individuals struggle to come to terms with the new reality, leading to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.  Additionally, some brain injuries can make it difficult or even impossible for patients to go back to activities they enjoyed before their injuries, such as sports, interacting with family and friends, and even playing with their children.

The University of Pittsburgh researchers concluded that clinicians should also consider how biological sex could affect suicide ideation and attempts when treating concussion patients.

As more efficacious concussion treatments become available from companies such as Odyssey Health Inc. (OTC: ODYY), the likelihood of complications resulting from concussions could lessen and possibly reduce incidents of suicidal ideation or even attempts.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Odyssey Health Inc. (OTC: ODYY) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/ODYY

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