Determination of the relationship between suicide risk factors and personality types and stress hormone levels in final year students of faculty of medicine

Objective: The aim of our study was to determine the risk factors associated with suicide in final year students of faculty of medicine and to determine the relationship between suicide risk and personality types and stress-related hormones such as ACTH, cortisol, growth hormone, prolactin, atrial natriuretic factor and cholecystokinin levels. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted at Gaziantep University Şahinbey Research and Practice Hospital between October 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023. The study included 80 intern doctors. Participants were asked to fill in the questionnaire form and venous blood samples were collected simultaneously. The questionnaire consisted of 3 parts: questions about personal information, Suicide Probability Scale and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Short Form. Blood samples were analyzed for ACTH, cortisol, growth hormone, prolactin, atrial natriuretic factor, cholecystokinin levels by ELISA method. SPSS 22.0 Windows version package program was used for statistical analysis of the data. P<0.05 was considered significant. Results: The study included 80 intern doctors, 36 (45.0%) from the pre-earthquake period and 44 (55.0%) from the post-earthquake period (February 6, 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes). Of the students, 64 (80.0%) stated that they had no suicidal ideation, while 16 (20.0%) stated that they had suicidal ideation. The pre and post-earthquake groups had similar rates of suicidal ideation and overall suicide probability scores. ACTH level was found to be lower in the post-earthquake group. There was a significant positive correlation between the presence of psychiatric illness, suicidal ideation and family history of suicide attempts and the overall suicide probability score. There was a positive, moderate relationship between neuroticism score and general suicidality score. There was a negative, weak relationship between lying score and overall suicide probability score. There was a positive, weak relationship between ACTH level and overall suicide probability score. Conclusion: In our study, presence of psychiatric illness, suicidal ideation, family history of suicide attempt, high neuroticism score, and high ACTH level were associated with increased suicide risk. Keywords: Suicide, Personality, Stress, Medical student, Suicide Probability Scale, Eysenck, ACTH, Cortisol, ANP, GH, Prolactin, CCK This study was supported by Gaziantep University Scientific Research Projects Management Unit (Project Number: TF.UT.22.71).