title: Quality of life and suicide risk in patients with diabetes mellitus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diabetes mellitus may have profound effects on physical and emotional health and quality of life.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The authors evaluated the perceived quality of life and its association with suicide risk in Italian patients with diabetes mellitus.
  
  
  METHODS
  Authors evaluated 100 patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Patients completed the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the Suicide Score Scale, the SF-36 Health Survey Questionnaire, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with diabetes showed greater hopelessness and suicide ideation than internal-medicine outpatients. Poor quality of life was related to low self-efficacy, high hopelessness, and suicidality. A stepwise multiple regression found that polytherapy and older age predicted suicidality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It would be useful in future research to follow up patient samples to determine how many and which patients engage in fatal and nonfatal suicidal behavior and the relationship of these parameters with quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Via di Grottarossa 1035, 00189 Rome, Italy. maurizio.pompili@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pompili
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lester
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Innamorati
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Pisa
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amore
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferrara
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tatarelli
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Girardi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012306:Risk; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires