Cognitive impairment and depression symptoms are independently associated with suicidal ideation in US Veterans

Depression is associated with cognitive impairment and suicidality. The independent association between cognitive impairment and suicidality is less clear. We examined the relationship between suicidal ideation and cognitive impairment in a sample of 50 veterans with depressive disorder diagnoses. Using zero-inflated Poisson regression, the severity of suicidal ideation was negatively associated with attention (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.78, p < .001), memory (IRR = 0.87, p < .001), and total cognition (IRR = 0.90, p = .007) index scores as measured by the Dementia Rating Scale 2 (DRS-2). These three indices continued to significantly predict suicidal ideation severity once depression symptoms were controlled for.