Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among diabetes mellitus: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV, V) from 2007 to 2012

• To evaluate the mental health of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and compare it with that of the general population.
• Compared mental health outcomes of 3,846 patients with DM with those of 30,219 controls.
• DM was associated with a marked increase in suicide ideation and attempt.

ObjectiveThe present study evaluated the mental health of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) in Korea and compared it with mental health in the general Korean population.MethodsAll data included in the final analyses were collected from 34,065 subjects (20 years of age or older) who participated in the 2007–2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). The mental health of 3846 DM patients were compared with that of 30,219 controls.ResultsA depressed mood for 2 or more continuous weeks was reported by 13.6% of subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), 14.3% of those with impaired glucose intolerance (IFG), and 17.6% of DM patients. Suicidal thoughts were reported by 15.3% of individuals with NGT, 15.6% of participants with IFG, and 17.6% of DM patients. Suicidal attempts were reported by 0.8% of people with NGT, 1.0% of those with IFG, and 1.3% of DM patients. In DM patients, the crude odds ratio (OR) for depressive mood was 1.376 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.258–1.504), the OR for suicidal ideation was 1.481 (95% CI: 1.361–1.611) and the OR for suicidal attempts was 1.413 (95% CI: 1.021–1.956). A multivariate analysis revealed that the ORs for depression, suicidal ideation, and suicidal attempts in DM patients were 1.178 (95% CI: 1.070–1.297), 1.152 (95% CI: 1.050–1.263), and 1.413 (95% CI: 1.021–1.956), respectively.ConclusionsThe present study found that DM was associated with a marked increase in suicidal behaviors.