The correlation of facial emotion recognition in patients with drug-naïve depression and suicide ideation

Abstract

BackgroundThe ability of facial emotion recognition is often impaired in Major depressive disorder (MDD). The impairment of recognizing facial emotions may contribute to the disruption of interpersonal interaction. Perceived social isolation and social rejection are risk factors for suicide. This study aimed to investigate the ability of facial emotion recognition in drug-naïve MDD patients with first-episode with suicidal ideation. Methods98 drug-naïve outpatients with the first episode of depression were recruited, including 53 patients with suicidal ideation (SI) and 45 patients without suicidal ideation (NSI). The Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation—Chinese Version was adopted to evaluate the suicidal ideation and suicidal risk in the latest week. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 (HDRS-17). Facial Emotion Recognition Test and the repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status (RBANS) were administered to assess the ability of emotion recognition and cognitive function. ResultsOur finding indicated that recognizing fear emotions was more accurate in the SI than the NSI group (OR = 1.142; 95% CI = 1.020, 1.280; p = 0.022). Patients with high suicidal risk may have more difficulties recognizing the neutral facial expressions (B=-0.310, 95% CI = -5.031, -0.845, p = 0.007). LimitationsLimitations include a small sample size and use of cross-sectional data. ConclusionsOur finding suggests that the variation of facial emotion recognition in drug-naïve MDD patients with first-episode with suicidal ideation and targeting this signal may help identify suicidal ideation to decrease the risk of suicide behavior in MDD.