Citation

Ghrayeb FAW, Mohamed Rusli A, Mohd Ismail I, Rifai AA. World Journal of Medical Sciences 2014; 10(3): 261-266.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014)

DOI

10.5829/idosi.wjms.2014.10.3.82386

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Although suicide behavior is a major public health priority in many developed countries, it remains largely ignored and underestimated in developing countries, especially among impoverished rural population. Thus, it is a major public health concern in its own, calling for urgent suicide intervention strategies. A descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of mental health-related behavior among 720 Palestinian school adolescents in Tarqumia. Students in the 7th through 11th grades (n=720, aged 13-17 years) in 4 public secondary and high schools anonymously completed the Arabic version of the international Global School-Based Health Survey.

RESULTS revealed high prevalence rate (24.58%) of suicide ideation and suicide attempt (25.28%) among Palestinian adolescents, where males were at high risk. The prevalence of felt lonely was reported by 25.28% of male and female adolescents. Further work is needed to reduce the escalating ideation and trend of suicide among the most vulnerable populations. Hopefully this study will contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon and to the development of prevention strategies. © IDOSI Publications, 2014.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescent; human; gender; mental health; Palestine; female; male; Mental health; suicidal ideation; prevalence; suicide attempt; Arab; Suicide behavior; Ideation; Attempt; article; major clinical study; questionnaire; high risk population; cross-sectional study; descriptive research; high school student; adolescent behavior; Global School Based Health Survey