Citation

Rudatsikira E, Muula AS, Siziya S. Clin. Pract. Epidemol. Ment. Health 2007; 3(1): 13.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/1745-0179-3-13

PMID

17716374

PMCID

PMC2014747

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Adolescent suicidal behaviour is a neglected public health issue especially in middle- and low-income countries. Informed policy decision-making on suicidal behaviour will need reliable information on the prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation which is a determinant of suicidal behaviour. METHODS: We estimated the prevalence and associated factors of suicidal ideation among school-going adolescents using data from the Global School-Based Health Survey conducted in 2004 in Guyana. RESULTS: Of the 1197 respondents, 18.4% (14.9% males and 21.6% females) reported having seriously considered committing suicide in the last 12 months. Males were less likely to seriously consider committing suicide than females (OR= 0.45; 95% CI [0.30, 0.67]). Subjects who reported having been bullied were more than twice as likely to contemplate committing suicide as those who had not been bullied (OR= 2.46 [1.71, 3.54]). History of depression was positively associated with suicidal ideation (OR=2.67; 95% [1.87, 3.81] while having close friends and understanding parents were negatively associated with suicide ideation (OR=0.51; 95% CI [0.28, 0.94] and OR=0.51; 95% CI [0.35, 0.76] respectively). CONCLUSION: Suicidal ideation is a significant public health issue among in-school adolescents in Guyana that requires attention. The design, implementation and evaluation of suicidal behaviour interventions should incorporate our knowledge of these associated factors.

Language: en