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The dexamethasone suppression test and suicide attempts
Author(s) -
Schmidtke A.,
Fleckenstein P.,
Beckmann H.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1989.tb10258.x
Subject(s) - dexamethasone suppression test , depression (economics) , psychiatry , suicide prevention , rating scale , poison control , hamilton rating scale for depression , suicide attempt , clinical psychology , injury prevention , psychology , human factors and ergonomics , medicine , medical emergency , major depressive disorder , dexamethasone , developmental psychology , cognition , economics , macroeconomics
– We examined covariations between results of the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) and suicidal behaviour for 44 patients who had attempted suicide at least once; the suicide methods, diagnoses and time factors were controlled for. The control groups comprised 82 psychiatric patients and a sample of 69 patients with endogenous depression. In spite of hypotheses suggesting the contrary, there was no significant relationship between DST results and acute suicide attempts. Although patients who had used “soft” methods were often suppressors, chi‐square tests using the suicide classification of the ICD‐9 as well as tests employing more precise subcategories failed to reveal any significant covariation. In groups of patients with an identical diagnosis of endogenous depression, the sensitivity of the DST with regard to suicide attempts was 52%. The difference between suppressors and nonsuppressors in previous suicide attempts was insignificant. Further, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression profiles of DST suppressors and nonsuppressors showed no significant differences with regard to either different symptoms or the evaluation of acute suicide risk.