Suicidal Behavior and Attitudes Among Medical Students in the United Arab Emirates

Amiri, Leena; Voracek, Martin; Yousef, Saeed; Galadari, Alaa; Yammahi, Salem; Sadeghi, Mohammad Reza; Eskin, Mehmet; Dervic, Kanita

doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000170

Cited by 36 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Despite the relatively weak relationships found in this study, loneliness should be avoided and treated carefully because suicide causes a serious loss of not only individuals but also the national health workforce. The results showing the occurrence of suicidal ideation throughout life or in the previous year (37.7%-33.4%) were higher than found most previous medical and dental studies [9][10][11][12]14,16,17,[20][21] with the exception of the high prevalence in Taiwan (43.6%) 13 and Pakistan (35.4%). 15 Moreover, the results of our study showed the highest prevalence of suicide attempts compared to all previous studies on medical and dental students.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…The second section measured loneliness on the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale. 29 The UCLA contains 20 items that are answered on a Likert scale from 1 to 4; (1) means "I have never felt this way", (2) "I feel this way rarely", (3) means "I feel this way sometimes" and (4) means "I feel this Journal of International Medicine and Dentistry 2018; 5(1): [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] way often". This UCLA was measured by the questions sum score ranging from 20 to 80, taken in consideration that some questions have reversed score.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the prevalence of suicidal ideation among medical students was found to be 1.4% to 10.3% in the United States, 9-10 14% in Norway, 11 17% in Poland, 12 1.4% to 43.6% in Taiwan, 13 37.8% in Austria, 27.3% in Turkey, 14 35.4% in Pakistan, 15 and 17.5% in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 16 Some previous studies found lower percentages of suicidal attempts, such as 1.4% in Norway, 2.2% in Austria, 6.4% in Turkey, 14 4.8% in Pakistan, 15 and only 1.8% in the UAE. Our review of the relevant literature revealed that only one previous study investigated suicidal ideation among medical students in Saudi Arabia, finding no suicidal ideation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Our review of the relevant literature revealed that only one previous study investigated suicidal ideation among medical students in Saudi Arabia, finding no suicidal ideation. 17 According to Amiri and Inam, [16][17] because Islamic teachings prohibit suicide, the participants may have been reluctant to express their suicidal ideation or reveal their suicide attempts. However, this effect is difficult to confirm because of the lack of other local studies on the same topic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Relationship between Loneliness and Suicidal Ideation in Private Medical and Dental Students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Aboalshamat¹,

Salman²,

Almehman³

et al. 2018

JIMD

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Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicidal attempts, and loneliness among dental and medical students in the western region of Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study investigated 607 dental and medical students and interns in private colleges in Saudi Arabia. A self-administrated questionnaire was based on the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale. Suicidal ideation and attempts were measured by a questionnaire adopted from previous research. The data was collected at the end of the year at examination time. Results: The loneliness mean was M= 45.14 (SD 8.66). Among the participants, 37.7% had experienced suicidal ideation throughout their lives, 33.4% had experienced suicidal ideation during the previous 12 months, and 23.2% had attempted suicide. Loneliness was significantly related with suicidal ideation during the previous 12 months (p <0.001) and with suicidal attempts (p = 0.005). The results showed that the following subgroups had higher risk for suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts: female, low family income, married, and dental students. Conclusion: The high levels of suicidal ideation and attempts among dental and medical students in the western region of Saudi Arabia call for the implementation of professional counselling and health promotion programs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Relationship between Loneliness and Suicidal Ideation in Private Medical and Dental Students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Aboalshamat¹,

Salman²,

Almehman³

et al. 2018

JIMD

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“…Twenty-four cross-sectional studies (n = 21 002) in 15 countries reported on the prevalence of suicidal ideation (Table 2). 4,5,34,62,65,73,74,79,112,160,165,167,174,[185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195] Medical student training level, continent or region, country, diagnostic criteria or screening instrument cutoff, and total Newcastle-Ottawa scores for the studies appear in eTable 1 in the Supplement. Newcastle-Ottawa score components for all 195 individual studies appear in eTable 2 in the Supplement.…”

Section: Study Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of Depression, Depressive Symptoms, and Suicidal Ideation Among Medical Students

Rotenstein

Ramos

Torre

et al. 2016

JAMA

1,773

1,409

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IMPORTANCE Medical students are at high risk for depression and suicidal ideation. However, the prevalence estimates of these disorders vary between studies.OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of depression, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation in medical students.DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION Systematic search of EMBASE, ERIC, MEDLINE, psycARTICLES, and psycINFO without language restriction for studies on the prevalence of depression, depressive symptoms, or suicidal ideation in medical students published before September 17, 2016. Studies that were published in the peer-reviewed literature and used validated assessment methods were included.DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Information on study characteristics; prevalence of depression or depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation; and whether students who screened positive for depression sought treatment was extracted independently by 3 investigators. Estimates were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. Differences by study-level characteristics were estimated using stratified meta-analysis and meta-regression. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESPoint or period prevalence of depression, depressive symptoms, or suicidal ideation as assessed by validated questionnaire or structured interview.RESULTS Depression or depressive symptom prevalence data were extracted from 167 cross-sectional studies (n = 116 628) and 16 longitudinal studies (n = 5728) from 43 countries. All but 1 study used self-report instruments. The overall pooled crude prevalence of depression or depressive symptoms was 27.2% (37 933/122 356 individuals; 95% CI, 24.7% to 29.9%, I 2 = 98.9%). Summary prevalence estimates ranged across assessment modalities from 9.3% to 55.9%. Depressive symptom prevalence remained relatively constant over the period studied (baseline survey year range of 1982-2015; slope, 0.2% increase per year [95% CI, −0.2% to 0.7%]). In the 9 longitudinal studies that assessed depressive symptoms before and during medical school (n = 2432), the median absolute increase in symptoms was 13.5% (range, 0.6% to 35.3%). Prevalence estimates did not significantly differ between studies of only preclinical students and studies of only clinical students (23.7% [95% CI, 19.5% to 28.5%] vs 22.4% [95% CI, 17.6% to 28.2%]; P = .72). The percentage of medical students screening positive for depression who sought psychiatric treatment was 15.7% (110/954 individuals; 95% CI, 10.2% to 23.4%, I 2 = 70.1%). Suicidal ideation prevalence data were extracted from 24 cross-sectional studies (n = 21 002) from 15 countries. All but 1 study used self-report instruments. The overall pooled crude prevalence of suicidal ideation was 11.1% (2043/21 002 individuals; 95% CI, 9.0% to 13.7%, I 2 = 95.8%). Summary prevalence estimates ranged across assessment modalities from 7.4% to 24.2%. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEIn this systematic review, the summary estimate of the prevalence of depression or depressive symptoms among medical students was 27.2% and that of suicidal ideation was 11.1%. Further research is nee...

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Disability Stigma in the Middle East

Javaid

2024

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Disability

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Suicidal Behavior and Attitudes Among Medical Students in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract: The prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempts among medical students in the UAE was in the lower range in international comparison. Negative attitudes toward suicide were accompanied by a strong support for a suicidal friend, and both were related to religiosity.

Cited by 36 publications

References 33 publications

The Relationship between Loneliness and Suicidal Ideation in Private Medical and Dental Students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The Relationship between Loneliness and Suicidal Ideation in Private Medical and Dental Students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Prevalence of Depression, Depressive Symptoms, and Suicidal Ideation Among Medical Students

Disability Stigma in the Middle East

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