Which factors may differentiate lifetime suicide attempters from ideators in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients?

Background: The causes underlying suicidal behaviour in patients with obsessive-compulsive (OCD) are not fully understood. Aim: In this study, we examined whether lifetime suicide attempt (SA), and suicide ideation (SI) was associated with affective temperaments, impulsivity, childhood traumatic events or separation anxiety. Methods: We compared OCD patients with lifetime SA (Group 1; n=25), lifetime suicide ideation (SI) (Group 2; n=62), and without lifetime SI and SA (Group 3; n=73) through Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSSI), Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), Separation Anxiety Symptom Inventory (SASI), Baratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego (TEMPS-A), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results: Post hoc tests showed that educational level was significantly lower in Group 1 than in both Group 2 and 3. Childhood abuse were significantly higher in attempters than ideators, and non-suicidal patients. The depressive, cyclothymic, and anxious temperaments were significantly higher in attempters and ideators compared to control subjects. The aggressive obsessions (p=0.002), childhood abuse history (p=0.009), lifetime major depression (p=0.017), and lower educational levels (p=0.006) strongly predicted the increased risk of lifetime SA, compared to non-suicidal patients. Childhood abuse (p=0.022) was the most significant predictor of lifetime SA in OCD. Conclusion: We suggested that childhood abuse history emerged as the most significant variable that distinguished lifetime attempters from only ideators in OCD patients.