Association between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and suicidal ideation in children and adolescents with first-episode depression / 四川精神卫生

ABSTRACT

BackgroundSuicide is one of the serious public health problems worldwide. The relationship between suicide and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio （NLR） may vary in different regions and different age. It is necessary to further investigate the relationship between NLR and suicidal ideation in Chinese children and adolescents with depression. ObjectiveTo explore the correlation between NLR and suicidal ideation in children and adolescents with depression， so as to provide clues for exploring the biomarkers of suicide. MethodsA retrospective analysis of 536 children and adolescents with depression who were hospitalized in the Third People's Hospital of Fuyang from January 2020 to December 2022 and met the diagnostic criteria of the International Classification of Diseases， tenth edition （ICD-10） was performed. Patients were divided into two groups according to whether they reported suicidal ideation. Demographic data， discharge diagnosis， Hamilton Depression Scale-17 item （HAMD-17） score and hematological test data （neutrophil counts， lymphocyte counts） on the second day were collected from medical records. Receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve was used to determine the optimal cut-off point of NLR for predicting suicidal ideation in children and adolescents with depression， and binary Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors for suicidal ideation. ResultsAmong the 536 patients， 429 cases （80.04%） had no suicidal ideation， and 107 cases （19.96%） had suicidal ideation. Compared with patients without suicidal ideation， the HAMD-17 score ［（25.28±8.86） vs. （21.21±8.46）， F=19.400， P<0.01］， neutrophil level ［（3.85±1.68）×109/L vs. （3.15±1.14）×109/L， Z=4.073， P<0.01］， and NLR level ［（1.96±1.50） vs. （1.52±0.71）， Z=3.532， P<0.01］ in the suicidal ideation patients were significantly higher. The optimal critical NLR value determined by the ROC curve was 1.52 （59.80% sensitivity， 58.50% specificity）， with an area under the curve of 0.610. Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of suicidal ideation was 1.94 times higher in those with high NLR than in the low NLR after controlling for age， sex， age at onset， duration of illness， and HAMD-17 score （OR=1.940， 95% CI： 1.251~3.009， P=0.003）. ConclusionNLR may be a risk factor and potential biomarker influencing suicidal ideation in the children and adolescents with first-episode depression. ［Funded by Scientific Research Project of Fuyang Municipal Health Commission （number， FY2020xg14）］