Citation

Susánszky E, Hajnal A, Kopp M. Psychiatr. Hung. 2011; 26(4): 250-257.

Vernacular Title

Alvaszavarok es remalmok mint az ongyilkossagi magatartas ferfiak es nok koreben.

Affiliation

Semmelweis Egyetem Magatartastudomanyi Intezet, Budapest, Hungary, E-mail: suseva@net.sote.hu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Magyar Pszichiatriai Tarsasag)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

22058257

Abstract

Introduction: Today, more and more international studies analyze the connection between sleep disturbances, including nightmares, and the risk of suicide. The majority of these studies focuses on patients with depression and PTSD; a few studies use community samples. The present paper is based on a community sample research; it examines gender differences in the relationship between nightmares and suicidal behavior (ideation and attempt) during the three years preceding the study. Methods: The database was derived from the data of the national representative survey Hungarostudy2006, the objective of which was the health status of the Hungarian adult population (N=4642). The five-item version of Athens Insomnia Scale was used for the examination of sleep disturbances; depression was measured with the shortened version of the Beck depression questionnaire. The questions dealing with nightmares were part of the Sleep Quality Questionnaire. Sleep problems, nightmares and depression were considered as risk factors for both suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Associations were analyzed by logistic regression. The data were corrected for age, gender, education, and financial situation. Results: Our analysis verified the connections between suicidal thoughts and attempts, and nightmares. The results show that the frequent occurrence of nightmares is associated with a nearly four times higher risk of suicide attempts among men (OR=3,89) and a threefold increase among women (OR=1,74). For suicidal thoughts, nightmares correlate with a three times higher risk for men (OR=2,97) and one and the half higher risk for women (OR=1,58). In our sample, frequent nightmares and sleep disorders increase the risk of suicidal behavior more than depression. Conclusion: After clinical studies proved the influence of sleep problems in various patient groups, our epidemiological study seem to confirm that nightmares have an independent role in the formation of suicidal behavior.

Language: hu