Suicide attempt history in depressed patients with and without a history of panic attacks

Abstract

This study of 346 depressed outpatients found a significant difference in the frequency of suicide attempts in those with a history of panic attacks (26.9%) compared with those without (16.8%). Further investigation showed that depressed patients with a history of infrequent panic attacks had a higher incidence of suicide attempts (32.3%) than those with panic disorder (21.5%). However, multiple regression analysis including a number of sociodemographic and diagnostic variables revealed that female gender and history of psychosis (but not panic attack history) significantly contributed to the variance in the history of suicide attempts. These data for depressed patients are compared with data from other studies regarding the association of panic attacks and suicidal behavior.