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Özet
Objectives: Impulsivity is a multidimentional construct involving diverse
neuropsychological and neurobiological processes. Impulsivity is particularly important
in major depression due to its influence on suicidality and medication compliance. The
aim was to study impulsive features in depressed patients and their relationship to
suicidality.
Method: Participants were recruited between March 2016 and September 2016 in
Hacettepe University Hospitals Psychiatry Clinic. Hundred and three outpatients
diagnosed as major depression, with Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I)
were recruited. Two groups were constituted as ‘remitted major depression’ (RMD,
n=32) and ‘major depression’ (MD, n=71) based on Hamilton Depression Rating Scale
(HDRS) scores ≤ 7 and ≥ 8, respectively. ‘Control group’ (C) consisted of 30 healthy
individuals who were never diagnosed with any psychiatric disorder. Comorbid Axis I
mental diagnosis other than remitted anxiety disorders were excluded. Subthreshold
bipolarity was assessed with Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ), suicidal ideation and
behaviour history were recorded. Impulsivity was evaluated with self-report scales and
behavioral tasks: Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS), UPPS Impulsive Behaviour Scale
(UPPS), Go/no-go Task, Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), Balloon Analogue Risk Task (
BART). Data were analyzed with Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Spearman
test with SPSS Statistics 17.0. Significance level was set as p <0.05.
Results: Barratt Impulsivity Scale non-planning subscale and UPPS urgency subscale
scores in MD group was higher than controls, and MD group had higher UPPS urgency
subscale scores than RMD group. There was no significant difference between groups in
behavioral task scores. There were weak positive correlations between depression
symptom severity and lack of premeditation, urgency, non-planning, and attention
impulsivity, and ommision errors in Go/no-go Task reflecting attention deficit, when
analysed in all participants.
MD group with suicidal ideation had higher BIS total and attention impulsivity scores,
UPPS total, lack of premeditation and urgency scores, and comission errors in Go/no-go
Task reflecting failure in response inhibition, compared to those without suicidal
ideation. In addition to these differences, MD group with lifetime history of suicide
attempt had higher scores for all subscales of BIS, however there was no difference in
behavioral task performances.
Conclusion: Higher impulsivity found only in self-report scales during depressive
episode suggests that the impulsivity is state dependent, rather than being a trait feature.
Impulsivity needs to be investigated by follow up studies including dimensions that were
not assessed in this study. Various dimensions of impulsivity assessed by self-report
scales and behavioral tasks were found to be related to suicide risk. The relationship
between impulsivity and suicidality in depressed patients should be investigated in
further studies in order to be able to predict the risk of suicide, improve management
according to this risk, and to develop more effective treatment approaches.