Mental Health
Evidence triangulation in suicide research: a systematic review of Mendelian randomization study Naohiro Yonemoto* Naohiro Yonemoto
Background: Suicide is a critical issue in public health, but it is multifactorial, and relatively rare in general populations, and risk factors need to be examined either in large observational data or in high-risk populations. In this study, we apply triangulation, a causal inference method in epidemiological studies that recently received considerable attention. Triangulation is a method to strengthen causal inference by integrating research results obtained from several different approaches. We performed a systematic review of Mendelian randomization for risk factors in suicide research.
Method: The literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane databases, and reference lists from previous related literature reviews. Preferred Reporting Items for STROBE-MR and the flow diagram were presented to reflect the search process. We summarized the characteristics of these eligible studies and synthesized their data for triangulation by risk factors.
Results: 59 studies were identified from the search. Risk factors such as psychiatric disease, smoking, alcohol, overweight, chronic pain, vitamins, and drugs, were investigated. While a study showed results that supported an association in some cases, the synthesis by triangulation showed that the causal relationship was unclear and questionable.
Conclusion: The triangulation approach would be a powerful tool for identifying risk factors in suicide research.