Epilepsy not a significant factor in adults hospitalized for attempted suicide

Epilepsy was not a significant factor among adults who had been hospitalized for attempted suicide, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

“Epilepsy has been statistically and clinically associated with suicidality,” Basma Akrout Brizard, MSc, of the laboratory of psychopathology and health processes at the University of Paris, and colleagues wrote. “Compared with patients recently hospitalized for other chronic diseases, those with epilepsy show a three times higher risk of hospital readmission for suicide attempt.

Researchers attempted to examine similarities and differences between those with and without epilepsy who attempted suicide, as well as to determine the frequency of epilepsy and related psychological and somatic issues among those who attempted suicide.

Brizard and colleagues conducted a multicenter cross-sectional study, which included 1,229 adults (mean age, 41.47 years, 70.3% female) hospitalized for suicide attempts in three French university hospitals between July 2001 and December 2015.

Participants were assessed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for DSM-IV Axis I mental disorders, a diagnostic tool routinely used at each location. Information regarding epilepsy was gained through clinical interviews, and information on other somatic diseases was gained via each participant’s medical history.

Prescription medication data were analyzed according to the WHO’s Anatomic Therapeutic Chemical classification in five categories: antiepileptic drugs, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, mood stabilizers and antidepressants. Sociodemographic data were also collected.

Data showed only 65 patients (5.3%) had epilepsy. Those with epilepsy who had previously attempted suicide had significantly fewer mean±SD years of education compared with those without epilepsy (11.2±3.2 vs 12.1±2.9) as well as increased rates of head trauma (29.2% for those with epilepsy compared with 16.2% for those without epilepsy), antiepileptic use (35.4% for those with epilepsy compared with 23.8% for those without epilepsy), and lifetime substance abuse and/or dependance (49.2% for those with epilepsy compared with 36.1% for those without epilepsy). Multivariate analyses revealed that years of education, head trauma and panic disorder with agoraphobia predicted belonging to the group of patients with epilepsy.

“This research contributes to drawing a clinical profile of [patients with epilepsy who attempt suicide] that deserves to be more deeply investigated to prevent complete suicide in this specific and vulnerable population,” Brizard and colleagues wrote.