Journal of International Psychiatry

Correlation between serum folate levels and their suicidal beliefs in depression. Zhao Shanshan,An Bang,Gao Min,Dang Yonghui.College of Medicine and Forensics，Xi'an Jiaotong University，Xi'an 710000,China. [Abstract] Objective Exploring the correlation between serum folate levels and their suicidal beliefs in depression.Methods A total of 123 patients with depression admitted in the psychiatric department of Xianyang Central Hospital from June 2022 to June 2024 were included as the study subjects. According to the score of "suicide" (H3) of the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD-17), H3≥1 was divided into suicidal concept group (74 cases) and H3 <1 group (49 cases). The differences in general data, depression, anxiety and serum folate levels were compared between the two groups of patients, and the correlation between serum folate concentration and suicidal ideas was analyzed.Results Significant differences in serum folate levels and total HAMD-17 score in the two groups (P <0.01);Correlation analysis found a negative association between serum folate levels and H3 scores (r= -0.34, P <0.01).Conclusions The serum levels of folic acid and depression in depressed patients with suicidal ideas are different from those without suicidal ideas, and there are certain associations with their suicidal ideas.

Depression; Serum folate levels; Suicidal beliefs