The degree to which suicide risk aggregates in US families is unknown. The authors aimed to determine the familial risk of suicide in Utah, and tested whether familial risk varies based on the characteristics of the suicides and their relatives.

A population-based sample of 12 160 suicides from 1904 to 2014 were identified from the Utah Population Database and matched 1:5 to controls based on sex and age using at-risk sampling. All first through third- and fifth-degree relatives of suicide probands and controls were identified (N = 13 480 122). The familial risk of suicide was estimated based on hazard ratios (HR) from an unsupervised Cox regression model in a unified framework. Moderation by sex of the proband or relative and age of the proband at time of suicide (<25 v. ⩾25 years) was examined.

Significantly elevated HRs were observed in first- (HR 3.45; 95% CI 3.12–3.82) through fifth-degree relatives (HR 1.07; 95% CI 1.02–1.12) of suicide probands. Among first-degree relatives of female suicide probands, the HR of suicide was 6.99 (95% CI 3.99–12.25) in mothers, 6.39 in sisters (95% CI 3.78–10.82), and 5.65 (95% CI 3.38–9.44) in daughters. The HR in first-degree relatives of suicide probands under 25 years at death was 4.29 (95% CI 3.49–5.26).

Elevated familial suicide risk in relatives of female and younger suicide probands suggests that there are unique risk groups to which prevention efforts should be directed – namely suicidal young adults and women with a strong family history of suicide.

To examine the relative contributions of frailty and neuropathology to dementia expression in a population-based cohort study.

Cross-sectional analysis of observational data.

Population-representative clinicopathological cohort study.

Adults aged 75+ recruited from general practice registries in Cambridge, UK, in 1985.

A 39-item frailty index and 15-item neuropathological index were used to operationalize frailty and neuropathology, respectively. Dementia status was ascertained by clinical consensus at time of death. Relationships were evaluated using logistic regression models in participants with autopsy records (n = 183). Model fit was assessed using change in deviance. Population attributable fraction for frailty was evaluated in relation to dementia incidence in a representative sample of the survey participants (n = 542).

Participants with autopsy were 92.3 ± 4.6 years at time of death, and mostly women (70%). Average frailty index value at last survey before death was 0.34 ± 0.16. People with dementia (63% of the sample) were frailer, had lower MMSE scores, and a higher burden of neuropathology. Frailty and neuropathological burden were significantly and independently associated with dementia status, without interaction; frailty explained an additional 3% of the variance in the model. Assuming a causal relationship and based on population-attributable fraction analyses, preventing severe frailty (Frailty Index ≥ 0.40) could have avoided 14.2% of dementia cases in this population-based cohort.

In the very old, frailty contributes to the risk for dementia beyond its relationship with the burden of traditional dementia neuropathologies. Reducing frailty could have important implications for controlling the burden of dementia. Future research on frailty interventions should include dementia risk as a key outcome, public health interventions and policy decisions should consider frailty as a key risk factor for dementia, and biomedical research should focus on elucidating shared mechanisms of frailty and dementia development.

To estimate the economic burden of overweight in Bangladesh.

We used data from Household Income and Expenditure Survey, 2010. A prevalence-based approach was used to calculate the population attributable fraction (PAF) for diseases attributable to overweight. Cost of illness methodology was used to calculate annual out of pocket (OOP) expenditure for each disease using nationally representative survey data. The cost attributable to overweight for each disease was estimated by multiplying the PAF by annual OOP expenditure. The total cost of overweight was estimated by adding PAF-weighted costs of treating the diseases.

Nationwide, covering the whole of Bangladesh.

Individuals whose BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2.

The total cost attributable to overweight in Bangladesh in 2010 was estimated at US$147·38 million. This represented about 0·13 % of Bangladesh’s Gross Domestic Product and 3·69 % of total health care expenditure in 2010. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the total cost could be as high as US$334 million or as low as US$71 million.

A substantial amount of health care resource is devoted to the treatment of overweight-related diseases in Bangladesh. Effective national strategies for overweight prevention programme should be established and implemented.

Literature supports a strong relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental illness but most studies reviewed are cross-sectional and/or use recall to assess maltreatment and are thus prone to temporality and recall bias. Research on the potential prospective impact of maltreatment reduction on the incidence of psychiatric disorders is scarce.

Electronic databases and grey literature from 1990 to 2014 were searched for English-language cohort studies with criteria for depression and/or anxiety and non-recall measurement of childhood maltreatment. Systematic review with meta-analysis synthesized the results. Study quality, heterogeneity, and publication bias were examined. Initial screening of titles and abstracts resulted in 199 papers being reviewed. Eight high-quality articles met eligibility criteria. Population attributable fractions (PAFs) estimated potential preventive impact.

The pooled odds ratio (OR) between any type of maltreatment and depression was 2.03 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.37–3.01] and 2.70 (95% CI 2.10–3.47) for anxiety. For specific types of maltreatment and depression or anxiety disorders, the ORs were: physical abuse (OR 2.00, 95% CI 1.25–3.19), sexual abuse (OR 2.66, 95% CI 1.88–3.75), and neglect (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.35–2.23). PAFs suggest that over one-half of global depression and anxiety cases are potentially attributable to self-reported childhood maltreatment. A 10–25% reduction in maltreatment could potentially prevent 31.4–80.3 million depression and anxiety cases worldwide.

This review provides robust evidence of childhood maltreatment increasing the risk for depression and anxiety, and reinforces the need for effective programs and policies to reduce its occurrence.

Long-term physical conditions (LTCs) consume the largest share of healthcare budgets. Although common mental disorders (CMDs) and LTCs often co-occur, the potential impact of improved mental health treatment on severe disability and hospital admissions for physical health problems remains unknown.

A cross-sectional study of 7403 adults aged 16–95 years living in private households in England was performed. LTCs were ascertained by prompted self-report. CMDs were ascertained by structured clinical interview. Disability was assessed using questions about problems with activities of daily living. Population impact and potential preventive gain were estimated using population-attributable fraction (PAF), and conservative estimates were obtained using ‘treated non-cases’ as the reference group.

Of the respondents, 20.7% reported at least one LTC. The prevalence of CMDs increased with the number of LTCs, but over two-thirds (71.2%) of CMD cases in people with LTCs were untreated. Statistically significant PAFs were found for CMDs and recent hospital admission [13.5%, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 6.6–20.0] and severe disability (31.3%, 95% CI 27.1–35.2) after adjusting for LTCs and other confounders. Only the latter remained significant when using the most conservative estimate of PAF (21.8%, 95% CI 14.0–28.9), and this was reduced only slightly when considering only participants with LTCs (18.5%, 95% CI 7.9–27.9).

Better treatments for CMDs in people with LTCs could achieve almost the same population health gain in terms of reducing severe disability as those targeted at the entire population. Interventions to reduce the prevalence of CMDs among people with LTCs should be part of routine medical care.

Suicide rates vary widely across nations and ethnic groups. This study aims to explore potential factors contributing to inter-ethnic differences in suicide rates.

Study subjects came from a case-control psychological autopsy study conducted in Taiwan, including 116 consecutive suicides from two aboriginal groups and Taiwanese Han; 113 of them each matched with two living controls. Gender-, age- and method-specific suicide rates, population attributable fraction (PAF) of suicide for five major risk factors, help-seeking before suicide and emergency medical aid after suicide were compared between the three ethnic groups.

One aboriginal group (the Atayal) had significantly higher adjusted rate ratios (RR) of suicide than the other aboriginal group (the Ami) [RR 0.20, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.12–0.34] and the Han (RR 0.26, 95% CI 0.16–0.40). Such differences can be explained by higher PAFs of suicide for three major risk factors (substance dependence, PAF 47.6%, 95% CI 25.5–64.2; emotionally unstable personality disorder, PAF 52.7%, 95% CI 32.8–69.0; family history of suicidal behaviour, PAF 43.5%, 95% CI 23.2–60.2) in this group than in the other two groups. This higher suicide rate was substantially reduced from 68.2/100 000 per year to 9.1/100 000 per year, comparable with the other two groups, after stepwise removal of the effects of these three risk factors. Suicide rates by self-poisoning were also significantly higher in this group than in the other two groups.

Higher rates of specific risk factors and use of highly lethal pesticides for suicide contributed to the higher suicide rate in one ethnic group in Taiwan. These findings have implications for developing ethnicity-relevant suicide prevention strategies.