Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
J Clin Psychiatry. 2011 Dec;72(12):1585-90. doi: 10.4088/JCP.11m06879. Epub 2011 Aug 23.
The recent escalation of US military suicide deaths to record numbers has been a sentinel for impaired force efficacy and has accelerated the search for reversible risk factors.
To determine whether deficiencies of neuroactive, highly unsaturated omega-3 essential fatty acids (n-3 HUFAs), in particular docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are associated with increased risk of suicide death among a large random sample of active-duty US military.
In this retrospective case-control study, serum fatty acids were quantified as a percentage of total fatty acids among US military suicide deaths (n = 800) and controls (n = 800) matched for age, date of collection of sera, sex, rank, and year of incident. Participants were active-duty US military personnel (2002-2008). For cases, age at death ranged from 17-59 years (mean = 27.3 years, SD = 7.3 years). Outcome measures included death by suicide, postdeployment health assessment questionnaire (Department of Defense Form 2796), and ICD-9 mental health diagnosis data.
Risk of suicide death was 14% higher per SD of lower DHA percentage (OR = 1.14; 95% CI, 1.02-1.27; P < .03) in adjusted logistic regressions. Among men, risk of suicide death was 62% greater with low serum DHA status (adjusted OR = 1.62; 95% CI, 1.12-2.34; P < .01, comparing DHA below 1.75% [n = 1,389] to DHA of 1.75% and above [n = 141]). Risk of suicide death was 52% greater in those who reported having seen wounded, dead, or killed coalition personnel (OR = 1.52; 95% CI, 1.11-2.09; P < .01).
This US military population had a very low and narrow range of n-3 HUFA status. Although these data suggest that low serum DHA may be a risk factor for suicide, well-designed intervention trials are needed to evaluate causality.
最近美国军人自杀死亡人数上升至创纪录水平，这是部队效能受损的一个信号，并加速了对可逆转风险因素的寻找。
确定在一个大型现役美国军人随机样本中，神经活性、高度不饱和ω-3 必需脂肪酸（n-3 HUFAs），特别是二十二碳六烯酸（DHA）的缺乏是否与自杀死亡风险增加有关。
在这项回顾性病例对照研究中，血清脂肪酸作为总脂肪酸的百分比在现役美国军人自杀死亡者（n = 800）和对照组（n = 800）中进行了量化，这些对照者在年龄、血清采集日期、性别、军衔和事件发生年份方面与死亡者相匹配。参与者为现役美国军人（2002-2008 年）。对于病例，死亡时的年龄为 17-59 岁（平均 27.3 岁，标准差 7.3 岁）。结果包括自杀死亡、部署后健康评估问卷（国防部表格 2796）和 ICD-9 心理健康诊断数据。
在调整后的逻辑回归中，DHA 百分比每降低一个标准差，自杀死亡风险增加 14%（OR = 1.14；95%CI，1.02-1.27；P <.03）。在男性中，血清 DHA 水平低与自杀死亡风险增加 62%相关（调整后的 OR = 1.62；95%CI，1.12-2.34；P <.01，比较 DHA 低于 1.75%[n = 1,389]与 DHA 为 1.75%和更高[n = 141]）。报告看到受伤、死亡或杀害联军人员的人自杀死亡风险增加 52%（OR = 1.52；95%CI，1.11-2.09；P <.01）。
这个美国军人人群的 n-3 HUFAs 状况非常低且狭窄。尽管这些数据表明血清 DHA 水平低可能是自杀的一个风险因素，但需要进行精心设计的干预试验来评估因果关系。
