Suicidality in Major Depressive Disorder : The Impact of Psychiatric Comorbidity

Ji-Won JUNG; Hee-Cheol KIM; Jung-Kyu SAKONG; Hyung-Mo SUNG; Sung-Won JUNG; Eun-Jung LEE; Im-Hee SHIN; Jung-Bum KIM

OBJECTIVES:

Generally, major depressive disorder (MDD) with psychiatric comorbidities is associated with a high suicide rate. However, this relationship has not been studied much in Korea. In this study, we evaluated the suicidality in MDD with psychiatric comorbidities.

METHODS:

This study was performed on patients who visited the psychiatric department of three university hospitals in the Gyeongbuk area from March 2008 to September 2011. In total, 776 patients were evaluated with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus (MINI-Plus), and 288 with MDD were recruited for the study. Suicidality and suicidal risks were evaluated in the MINI-Plus questionnaire.

RESULTS:

MDD patients with comorbidities had a significantly higher suicidality and suicidal risk than patients with pure MDD. Suicidality was significantly higher in an anxiety disorder group with comorbidity than in the pure MDD group. As the total number of comorbidities got higher, the suicidality increased, and suicidal risks had significant differences depending on the total number of comorbidities.

CONCLUSION:

These results suggest that an MDD patient with comorbidities has a higher suicidality and suicidal risk. In clinical settings, comorbid MDD patients should be approached with more aggressive psychiatric intervention of their suicidal thoughts and actions.

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