[Dexamethasone suppression test and suicide]

Suicidal behavior may be related to perturbations of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis. We administered the DST to 51 patients admitted for suicide attempt on admission day. No correlation is found between DST result and type of suicide attempt. The DST's diagnostic predictive value was absent for our population. Neither alcoholism, nor repeat of suicide attempt, nor suicidal behavior rating scales were correlated with DST results. Drug interference effects and the "stress" factor may explain our DST results on a population of suicide attemptors.