Impulsivity and Saliva Cortisol in Patients with Suicide Attempt and Controls

The objective of this study was to prove concepts in the characterization of suicidal patients and the possible usefulness of those markers to potentially identify patients with a higher risk for suicidality.

Patients with a recent suicide attempt were compared with patients suffering from depression, adjustment disorder, anxiety, or eating disorders without suicidality, healthy controls and remitted patients with a history of at least 1 suicide attempt (≥1 year). We analyzed impulsivity (Barratt Impulsivity Scale, BIS) and saliva cortisol concentrations.

Independently of suicidality and disease state patients display higher BIS scores than healthy controls. Saliva cortisol levels tend to be higher in patients in the acute disease state than in remitted patients and healthy controls.

Saliva cortisol may be a useful marker that reveals alterations in nonsuicidal patients suffering from depression, adjustment disorder, anxiety, or eating disorders who might be at risk.