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Suicidality in Huntington's disease

A A M Hubers1, N Reedeker, E J Giltay

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. a.a.m.hubers@lumc.nl

Journal of Affective Disorders
|November 29, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Huntington's disease (HD) patients show increased suicidality, especially those with depressed mood. Early screening for suicidal ideation in HD mutation carriers is crucial for intervention and risk assessment.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Huntington's disease (HD) is associated with a significantly elevated risk of suicide.
  • Suicidality, a precursor to suicide, requires thorough investigation in HD.
  • This study aimed to determine the prevalence, clinical associations, and predictors of suicidality in individuals with HD.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the prevalence of suicidality in Huntington's disease (HD) mutation carriers.
  • To identify clinical factors associated with suicidality in HD.
  • To determine predictors of suicidality in HD over a 2-year period.

Main Methods:

  • Suicidality was assessed in 152 HD mutation carriers and 56 non-carriers using the Problem Behaviours Assessment (PBA).
  • A score greater than 1 on the 'suicidal ideation' item indicated the presence of suicidality.
  • Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze associations and predictors over a 2-year follow-up period.

Main Results:

  • Twenty percent of pre-motor and 20% of motor symptomatic HD mutation carriers reported suicidality, compared to none of the non-carriers.
  • Suicidal HD mutation carriers were more likely to use antidepressants, exhibit apathy, and have a depressed mood or a DSM-IV depression diagnosis.
  • Depressed mood at baseline independently predicted suicidality at follow-up (OR=10.6).

Conclusions:

  • Depressed mood is a significant predictor of suicidality in Huntington's disease.
  • Screening for suicidality in both pre-motor and motor symptomatic HD mutation carriers is essential.
  • Assessing depressed mood can aid in identifying HD individuals at higher risk for suicide.
Abstract

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