OBJECTIVE:
Melatonin plays a role in many biological and physiological events. There are studies in the literature relating melatonin levels to many psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. We aimed to investigate the relationship between serum melatonin levels with the Beck Depression Inventory and the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation in suicide patients.
METHODS:
The study was conducted prospectively with volunteer patients aged 20–50 years who were admitted to the emergency department after a suicide attempt. The social and occupational status, educational levels, marital status, and stressor factors of patients were questioned. Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation were applied to each patient included in the study. Blood melatonin levels were evaluated using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The data were analyzed with the SPSS 23.00 statistical program. Descriptive values were expressed by the number of cases (n), percentage (%), median (interquartile range), and mean±standard deviation. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to assess the distribution of continuous variables, and the Pearson or Spearman correlation test was used to assess the relationship between disease severity and melatonin level. A value of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS:
No statistically significant correlation was found between melatonin level and the Beck Depression Inventory score (r=-0.098, p=0.44). However, a statistically weak, inverse, and significant correlation was discovered between melatonin levels and the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation score (r=-0.465, p=0.00).
CONCLUSION:
According to our results, it was determined that there was a significant negative relationship between melatonin level and the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation scoring.
KEYWORDS:
Emergency; Depression; Suicide; Melatonin
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