title: Alcohol-dependent patients attempting and not attempting suicide: a comparison.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alcohol dependence is a psychiatric disorder associated with an increased risk of suicidal behaviour. This is also associated with an increased number of suicide risk factors.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The current study examined the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of a number of alcohol-dependent patients who attempted suicide.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied a consecutive series of 377 alcohol-dependent patients in our in-patient clinics. Their alcohol-use histories were assessed through semistructured interviews. The Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale were administered to all patients. Serum total cholesterol levels, mean corpuscular volume, the liver enzymes gamma glutamyl transferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were routinely measured. In the statistical analyses, Student's t-test and chi-squared tests were applied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 377 alcohol-dependent patients, 89 (23.6%) had histories of attempted suicide. Thirty-four (42.5%) of the 80 female alcohol-dependent patients and 55 (18.5%) of the 297 male alcohol-dependent patients had attempted suicide; this gender difference was statistically significant (χ2 = 27.7, P < 0.001). A greater proportion of the suicide attempters than of the non-attempters met the Diagnostic Statistical Manual IV criteria for another psychiatric disorder (60.6%, n = 54, vs. 40.6%, n = 117; χ2 = 14.8; df = 6; P < 0.05). The difference of total cholesterol levels between female (mean = 144.0, SD = 58.3; mean = 158.0, SD = 83.9; t = 4.5; P < 0.05) and male (mean = 133.7, SD = 50.5; mean = 163.6, SD = 69.7; t = 11.7; P < 0.01) attempters and non-attempters was statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that suicide attempts in alcohol-dependent patients are associated with more profound biopsychosocial pathology and decreased serum cholesterol levels.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Maltepe University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Özkan
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Pektaş
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Maltepe University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mirsal
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Maltepe University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayhan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalyoncu
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Maltepe University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nasibe
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ünsalan
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Maltepe University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mansur
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beyazyürek