Serum cholesterol, suicidal behavior and impulsivity in cocaine-dependent patients

Relationships between serum cholesterol and suicidal behavior have been rep orted. As suicidal behavior is common in cocaine dependence, we looked for a relationship with serum cholesterol. To do this, we compared 57 cocaine-d ependent patients who had attempted suicide with 111 cocaine-dependent pati ents who had never attempted suicide for their admission total serum choles terol levels. We found that there were no significant differences between c ocaine-dependent patients who had or had not attempted suicide in their tot al serum cholesterol levels. Also, there were no significant correlations b etween total serum cholesterol levels and scores on the Barratt Impulsivity Scale. Thus, admission total serum cholesterol does not appear to be clini cally useful in the assessment of suicidal behavior in cocaine-dependent pa tients. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.