Suicidality in temporal lobe epilepsy: measuring the weight of impulsivity and depression

The aim of the work described here was to measure the role of psychopathological features, specifically impulsivity and depression, in suicidality in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).

Neuropsychiatric evaluation of 66 outpatients with TLE was performed with the following instruments: a structured clinical interview (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview Plus), the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, the Hamilton Anxiety Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale.

A current Axis I psychiatric diagnosis, mainly mood and anxiety disorders, was assigned to 37 subjects (56.1%) Presence of suicide risk was identified in 19 patients (28.8%), and 14 (21.2%) had attempted suicide. Frequency of seizures (P=0.012), current major depression (P=0.001), and motor impulsivity (P=0.005) were associated with suicide risk on univariate analysis. Logistic regression stressed the main relevance of major depression (OR=12.82, 95% CI=2.58-63.76, P=0.002) and motor impulsivity (OR=1.21, 95% CI=1.06-1.38, P=0.005) to suicide risk.

Depression has a major influence on suicidality in epilepsy. Motor impulsivity is also relevant and may be an important component of depression in TLE associated with suicide risk.