Suicide and suicide attempts after subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Deep-brain stimulation is a well-established, effective treatment for patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease. Recent studies examining rates of suicide attempts and suicides after deep-brain stimulation in the bilateral subthalamic nucleus have reported varying results. Using this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aim to obtain a comprehensive understanding of suicidality in Parkinson’s patients after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation. Methods We systematically examined Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases to identify studies published before November 2019 that measured rates of suicidality in Parkinson’s patients who underwent subthalamic nucleus stimulation. A meta-analysis of the data from the included studies was conducted using Stata 12.0. Results A total of 18 studies met the eligibility criteria of this study. We found that the pooled rate of suicidal ideation was 4% (95% CI 0.00–7.2%, range 2–17%). The pooled rate of suicide attempts was 1% (95% CI 1.0–2.0%), while the pooled rate of suicide was 1% (95% CI 0.0–1.0%). Conclusions Our findings indicate a relatively high rate of suicidality among Parkinson’s patients after subthalamic nucleus deep-brain stimulation. It is important for clinicians to carefully monitor psychiatric disorders, especially suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, in Parkinson’s patients before and after subthalamic nucleus deep-brain stimulation.