Study Finds Stroke Survivors May Have Suicidal Thoughts

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Story Created: Feb 8, 2013 at 4:07 PM PDT

Story Updated: Feb 8, 2013 at 4:07 PM PDT

A new study looks at a troubling problem that affects may people in stroke recovery: suicide.

Nearly 1 in 12 stroke survivors may have contemplated taking their own lives, according to research from the University of Southern California.

Of course, depression was common among those who had suicidal thoughts. However, suicide contemplation was also more likely among survivors who were women, younger, had a higher body mass index, lower education levels and those who were unmarried and living in poverty.

The data did not include information about how recently strokes had occurred or account for the patients' varying levels of disability.

This study was presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2013 in Hawaii.