Sleep and suicide relationship in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Abstract

Objective: The data about sleep quality and suicide relationship in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is limited. In this study, we aimed to investigate the hypothesis that there might be a relationship between sleep quality and suicide in the OCD patients with compare the control group. Methods: A total of 50 patients with OCD (31 female, 19 male) and 40 healthy (24 female, 16 male) individuals as a control group were included in the study. A data form for sociodemographic features, one other forms for clinical characteristics of OCD and Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YB-OCS) have been filled by clinician. After the interview, all patients completed Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Suicide Behavior Scale (SBS). Results: Six (12%) of the OCD patients had lifelong suicide attempts and twenty (40%) had lifelong suicide ideation. When OCD patients and healthy controls were compared, PSQI-2, PSQI-3, PSQI-5, PSQI-6, SBS-1, SBS-2, SBS3 and SBS total scores in patients with OCD were higher than healthy controls. In patients group with lifelong suicide ideations, PSQI-1 and PSQI-6 scores were higher. In patients group with lifelong suicide attempts, PSQI-6 scores were higher. In OCD patients, statistically significant correlations were detected between SBS-1 and PSQI-1, PSQI-6; SBS-3 and PSQI-6. This correlations were not observed in the control group. Conclusion: As a result of this study, it has been shown that the subjective sleep quality of the last 1 month in OCD patients and the intake of additional sleeping pills may be related to past suicidal thoughts and attempts. It may be appropriate to monitor OCD patients with subjective sleep quality impairment and use of additional medication more frequently in terms of suicide risk. In this issue, follow-up studies are needed to include more OCD patients.