Evaluation of psychiatric and genetic risk factors among primary relatives of suicide completers in Delhi NCR region, India

• Family members of suicide completers were included.
• Sib pair analysis of suicidal behavior and psychiatric traits were done.
• Phenotypic and major biomarker genetic assessment was done in Indian population.
• Psychiatric traits and genetic variants were found higher in primary relatives.
• Depression was found significant factor for suicide attempt in regression analysis.

Suicide as a public health problem is studied worldwide and association of psychiatric and genetic risk factors for suicidal behavior are the point of discussion in studies across different ethnic groups. The present study is aimed at evaluating psychiatric and genetic traits among primary relatives of suicide completer families in an urban Indian population. Bi-variate analysis shows significant increase in major depression (PHQ and Hamilton), stress, panic disorder, somatoform disorder and suicide attemptamong primary compared to other relatives. Sib pair correlations also reveal significant results for major depression (Hamilton), stress, suicide attempt, intensity of suicide ideation and other anxiety syndrome. 5-HTTLPR, 5-HTT (Stin2) and COMT risk alleles are higher among primary relatives, though statistically insignificant. Backward conditional logistic regression analysis show only independent variable, Depression (Hamilton) made a unique statistically significant contribution to the model in primary relatives.