Suicide Prevention in the African Region

Osafo, Joseph; Asante, Kwaku Oppong; Akotia, Charity S.

doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000668

Cited by 22 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The prevalence found was close to studies that evaluated suicidal behavior in patients with mental disorders ( 36 - 37 ) , whose ideation rate tends to be higher due to mental illness. There are few research studies on suicidal behavior in Sub-Saharan Africa, which can be related to limited resources, as well as to the stigma associated with suicide in some countries of this region ( 38 - 39 ) . In these countries, among them Ethiopia, there is difficulty accessing mental health services, with shortage of professionals and mental health care institutions centralized in capital cities ( 38 , 40 ) .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The scarcity of data on suicidal behavior leads to underreporting, increased stigma and difficulty accessing the health system ( 38 ) . Middle- and low-income countries account for approximately 75.0% of the number of suicides in the world ( 7 ) ; therefore, it is important to recognize the role of the sociocultural and economic factors in suicide, which can be expressed in different ways according to gender, reflecting social roles ( 41 ) .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prevalence of suicidal behavior in young university students: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Crispim

Santos

Frazão

et al. 2021

Rev. Latino-Am. Enfermagem

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Objective: to identify the prevalence of suicidal behavior in young university students. Method: a systematic review with meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies based on the Joanna Briggs Institute proposal, and carried out in the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO and LILACS databases and in the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, with no language or year restrictions. A total of 2,942 publications were identified. Selection, data extraction and methodological evaluation of the studies were performed by two independent researchers. The meta-analysis was performed considering the random effects model. Results: eleven articles were included in this review. The prevalence variation for suicidal ideation was from 9.7% to 58.3% and, for attempted suicide, it was from 0.7% to 14.7%. The meta-analysis showed a 27.1% prevalence for suicidal ideation in life, 14.1% for ideation in the last year, and 3.1% for attempted suicide in life. Conclusion: the high prevalence of suicidal behavior, even with the considerable heterogeneity of the studies, raises the need to implement interventions aimed at preventing suicide and promoting mental health, especially in the academic environment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of suicidal behavior in young university students: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Crispim

Santos

Frazão

et al. 2021

Rev. Latino-Am. Enfermagem

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Suicide illegality poses challenges for researchers as there are no formal reporting systems for suicide statistics (e.g. National Violent Death Reporting System in the United States; Osafo et al, 2020). Previous studies investigating suicidality in Ghana have used non-representative approaches to data collection, such as media content analysis (Quarshie et al, 2021) and qualitative interviews (Akotia et al, 2019), which provide important insights but are limited to suicidal behaviors of the target populations of these studies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicidal ideation in older Ghanaian women: The roles of bodily pain, functional limitation, and chronic health conditions

Muruthi

Spafford

Osa

et al. 2021

Int J Soc Psychiatry

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Background: Although approximately 79% of the world’s suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the limited research in these regions has primarily focused on the rates of suicide attempts (SA) and ideation among men and younger members of the population. Aim: This study investigated the associations between bodily pain, functional limitation, chronic health conditions, and suicidal ideation among older Ghanaian women with a positive screen for depression. Methods: Data was obtained from the World Health Organization’s Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) Ghana Wave 1, a nationally representative sample. Based on the interpersonal theory of suicide, we used logistic regression analysis to investigate the associations between the variables. Results: Functional limitation, bodily pain, hopelessness, and hypertension were significantly associated with a higher risk of suicidal ideation after accounting for sociodemographic and other confounding factors. Conclusions: Early interventions designed to decrease hopelessness, hypertension, and functional limitations may lead to reduced suicide ideation among older Ghanaian women who screen positive for depression.

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“…For example, In Mozambique, there is no psychiatric training capacity, and the mental health-care system is still in development ( Oquendo et al, 2018 ). In Africa, of 18 countries who responded to a survey about suicide prevention, only 4 were attempting to implement suicide prevention guidelines nationally, and only 2 countries were even publishing statistics for suicide attempts nationally ( Osafo et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Universal Suicide Prevention Interventions During the Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicide prevention in the covid-19 era

Rothman

Sher

2021

Preventive Medicine

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The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the health of people all around the world including mental health as social isolation which has been one of the best infection mitigation efforts is strongly associated with anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide attempts. These feelings are consistent with past pandemics where there was loss of routine and sociability. Suicidality has been on the rise in the United States and it is within this context that the pandemic has struck. With the risk of suicide being increased, preventative measures need to be implemented at the universal, selective and indicated levels. Universal suicide prevention is needed for the population as a whole regardless of their risk of suicide. Selective prevention is for subgroups at an increased risk and lastly indicated prevention corresponds to people at a very high risk, for example those with recent suicide attempts. Telemedicine, informative and responsible media, as well as monetary help from governments, banks and other major institutions can all help with suicide prevention in these during the pandemic. These resources can broadly help the population at large, but more targeted approaches will be needed for high risk individuals including those with psychiatric diagnoses, COVID-19 survivors, frontline healthcare workers and the elderly. Additionally, those with recent suicide attempts should warrant even more attention.

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Suicide Prevention in the African Region

Cited by 22 publications

References 30 publications

Prevalence of suicidal behavior in young university students: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Prevalence of suicidal behavior in young university students: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Suicidal ideation in older Ghanaian women: The roles of bodily pain, functional limitation, and chronic health conditions

Suicide prevention in the covid-19 era

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