TOPLINE:

In a Danish cohort study, patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) showed more than double the risk for self-harm and suicide than matched control individuals.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a nationwide cohort study using Danish registries that included 9566 patients with HS (mean age, 38.7 years; 69% female) who were age and sex matched with 47,827 individuals from the general population (control group) from January 2003 to December 2020.
• Study outcomes were episodes of self-harm and death by nonviolent or violent suicide.
• At baseline, patients with HS were more likely to have a history of smoking (odds ratio [OR], 4.13), excessive alcohol use (OR, 2.54), and drug use (OR, 6.50); any mental disorder (OR, 2.58); prior episode of self-harm (OR, 2.69); and the lowest education level (OR, 1.91).

TAKEAWAY:

• During follow-up, 3.3% of patients with HS experienced an episode of self-harm compared with 1.1% of control individuals (incidence rate, 4.26 vs 1.38 per 1000 person-years), and 0.2% of patients with HS vs 0.1% of control individuals died by suicide (incidence rate, 0.23 vs 0.08 per 1000 person-years).
• Patients with HS had a higher risk for self-harm than the general population (hazard ratio [HR], 2.13; P < .001). They also had a higher risk for suicide (HR, 2.54; P = .01).
• The risk for self-harm was lower among participants with HS with prior self-harm (HR, 1.43; P < .05) vs those without prior self-harm (HR, 2.06; P < .001) compared with the respective control groups.
• Among individuals who died by suicide, those with HS were more likely than control individuals to use nonviolent methods (52.9% vs 29.0%) and have a history of self-harm episodes (41.7% vs 14.8%).

IN PRACTICE:

“HS was associated with a higher hazard” of self-harm and suicide, the authors wrote. “Self-harm was more frequent before suicide in patients with HS vs controls, highlighting the importance of clinician awareness in a multidisciplinary setting.”

SOURCE:

The study was led by Nikolaj Holgersen, MD, PhD, Department of Dermato-Venereology & Wound Healing Centre, Copenhagen University Hospital, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg, Denmark, and was published online on March 11 as a research letter in JAMA Dermatology.

LIMITATIONS:

The study limitations included reliance on hospital-based HS diagnoses and lack of clinical measures of HS severity.

DISCLOSURES:

The authors reported no funding source. Several authors reported receiving grants, personal fees, and research funding from various pharmaceutical companies and foundations, including AbbVie, Almirall, Bluefin Biomedicine, Boehringer Ingelheim, Immunitas Therapeutics, Incyte, Insmed, Navigator Medicines, and Novartis. One author reported being employed at LEO Pharma. Full disclosures are noted in the original article.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.