Electroencephalographic Abnormalities in Suicidal Patients

F.A. Struve et al have suggested that paroxysmal EEG abnormality is considerably more frequent in suicidal psychiatric inpatients than in nonsuicidal psychiatric inpatients. To investigate whether observations are confirmed in other populations, the Zung Index of Potential Suicide and scalp EEG were administered to 216 consecutively admitted hospital psychiatric inpatients. Results indicate only slightly greater EEG abnormality in suicidal patients (14.9%) than in nonsuicidal patients (6.6%).