Suicidal Behavior in Alzheimer's Disease: Preliminary Study

24% of control group participants had suicidal ideation throughout life and 12% of cases (OR for suicidal ideation = 0.432 [CI 95%: 0.095-1.966]). 8% of control group participants attempted suicide throughout life and 4% of cases (OR for suicide attempts = 0.479 [CI 95%: 0.41-5.652]). Persons with Alzheimer's disease were associated with a worse quality of life and tended to have less suicidality. (Figure 1 and 2, Table 1) CONCLUSIONS: It appears that suicidal behavior is inversely related to the risk of developing suicide. The odds ratio data demonstrate the need for a larger sample size to determine whether there is a difference in the history of suicide throughout the lives of people with Alzheimer's disease and the general population.