Epidemiological status of suicide in the Middle East and North Africa countries (MENA) from 1990 to 2017

Abstract

Background Suicide is proposed as an important and growing issue in public health. The aim of this study is to compare suicide load in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries in order to pave the way for correct health policy making. Methods The population included 21 MENA countries. The data of Global Burden of Diseases in 2017 that estimate death rate for 264 causes was used. The GBD considers suicide according to definition of the ninth and tenth editions of the international classification of diseases as death due to poisoning or intentional self-injury. All suicide-related analyzes were evaluated using these indicators in excel 2016. Results The highest percentage of total suicide DALY attributable to risk factors of Alcohol and drug use are related to United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan countries, respectively. Iran is the sole country without suicide DALY attributable to alcohol consumption risk factor. Moroccan women and Libya, Afghanistan and Yemen men have the highest DALY rates in terms of ASR in the region, respectively. Suicide incidence have an increasing trend until the age group of 20–24 and then a decreasing trend. This trend is on the rise again since the age of 65. Discussion The necessity to improve social, cultural and economic factors along with effective measures on suicide prevention especially among low and middle income countries, performing more studies and precise registration of the cases especially in the areas that suicide is considered social stigma and crime should be considered as high agenda in national and regional strategies.

Association between serum liver enzymes and hypertension using propensity score matching analysis: evidence from a large kurdish prospective cohort study

“…Usually, HTN has no symptoms, and various causes developing it, but it can be controlled with medications [ 1 ]. The prevalence of HTN in different countries varies from 10% to more than 60% [ 2 ], and its average global prevalence is reported about 22% in 2021 [ 3 ]. Based on the evidence, the prevalence of HTN will be increased to 29.2% in 2025 [ 4 ].…”

Burden and Epidemiology of Mental Disorders in the Middle East and North Africa from 1990 to 2019: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study

“… 6 , 7 Some studies on the epidemiology of mental disorders have been published in recent years. 6 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 However, these studies have mainly focused on individual disorders. To date, no study has investigated the total burden of mental disorders in the MENA region.…”

Suicidality in the Arab World: Results from an Online Screener

“…Though suicide prevalence rates in the Arab World may vary by country (Naghavi, 2019 ), there appear to be certain commonalities based on individuals’ age. Rates of death by suicide are highest for people under the age of 30, comprising 38.6% of all deaths by suicide (Naghavi, 2019 ), with the greatest prevalence of suicidal behavior among those aged 20–24 (Amini et al, 2021 ). Indeed, Eskin and colleagues ( 2019 ) found that 22% of university students living in predominantly Muslim Mediterranean countries reported suicidal ideation and 8.6% reported attempting suicide.…”

“…Alarmingly, some studies suggest that suicidality may occur even earlier, with 28.9% of Lebanese adolescents reporting suicidal ideation (Chahine et al, 2020 ). Beyond young adulthood, suicide rates decrease with age, and then increase again for people over age 65 (Amini et al, 2021 ).…”