Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among diabetes mellitus: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV, V) from 2007 to 2012.

OBJECTIVE: The present study evaluated the mental health of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) in Korea and compared it with mental health in the general Korean population.

METHODS: All data included in the final analyses were collected from 34,065 subjects (20years of age or older) who participated in the 2007-2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). The mental health of 3846 DM patients were compared with that of 30,219 controls.

RESULTS: A depressed mood for 2 or more continuous weeks was reported by 13.6% of subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), 14.3% of those with impaired glucose intolerance (IFG), and 17.6% of DM patients. Suicidal thoughts were reported by 15.3% of individuals with NGT, 15.6% of participants with IFG, and 17.6% of DM patients. Suicidal attempts were reported by 0.8% of people with NGT, 1.0% of those with IFG, and 1.3% of DM patients. In DM patients, the crude odds ratio (OR) for depressive mood was 1.376 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.258-1.504), the OR for suicidal ideation was 1.481 (95% CI: 1.361-1.611) and the OR for suicidal attempts was 1.413 (95% CI: 1.021-1.956). A multivariate analysis revealed that the ORs for depression, suicidal ideation, and suicidal attempts in DM patients were 1.178 (95% CI: 1.070-1.297), 1.152 (95% CI: 1.050-1.263), and 1.413 (95% CI: 1.021-1.956), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: The present study found that DM was associated with a marked increase in suicidal behaviors.