Risk of mortality from suicide in patients with Huntington’s disease is increased compared to the general population in England

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relative risk of suicide mortality in patients with Huntington’s disease (HD). METHODS: A case–control study design was used. We used linked electronic records from primary care, secondary care and Office for National Statistics from England from 2001 through 2019. Controls were matched to cases by general practice and suicide date. Odds ratios (ORs) were adjusted for gender and age at suicide/index date. RESULTS: Data were available for 594,674 individuals. Patients with HD who died from suicide were significantly younger at time of death than patients with HD who died from causes other than suicide (p < 0.001). The adjusted OR for HD was 9.2 (95% confidence intervals, CI 4.9–17.4) compared to those without HD. The increase in risk was higher amongst the younger age group who were ≤ 45.8 years at suicide/index date (OR 54.5, 95% CI 10.8–276.1). CONCLUSION: The markedly elevated suicide risk in patients with HD suggests that implementation of suicide risk assessment may improve survival in individuals with these diseases, especially in younger patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00415-022-11085-z.