Trend and gender-based association of the Bangladeshi student suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic: a GIS-based nationwide distribution

Background: Students are one of the most vulnerable groups to suicide. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, a Bangladeshi study was conducted assessing their suicide patterns regarding gender-based associations. But how has the pandemic changed the Bangladeshi students’ suicide patterns is not studied yet, which is investigated herein. Besides, for the first time, this study provides GIS-based distribution of suicide cases across the country’s administrative district. Methods: As Bangladesh has no suicide surveillance system, this study utilized media reporting suicide cases following the prior studies. A total of 127 students’ suicide cases from March 2020 to March 2021 were finally analyzed after eliminating the duplicate ones, and data were synthesized following the prior studies. Arc-GIS was also used to distribute the suicide cases across the administrative district. Results: Results revealed that female (72.4%; n = 92/127) was more prone to die by suicide than males. About 42.5% of the cases were aged between 14 and 18 years (mean age 16.44 ± 3.512 years). The most common method of suicide was hanging (79.5%; n = 101), whereas relationship complexities (15.7%), being emotional (12.6%), not getting the desired one (11%), conflict with a family member (9.4%), academic failure (9.4%), mental health problem (8.7%), sexual complexities (6.3%), scolded or forbidden by parents (3.9%) were the prominent suicide causalities. In respect to gender and suicide patterns, only the suicide stressor was significantly distributed, whereas the method of suicide was significantly associated with GIS-based distribution. However, a higher number of suicide cases was documented in the capital (i.e. Dhaka) and the northern region than in its surrounding districts. Conclusions: The findings reported herein are assumed to be helpful to identify the gender-based suicide patterns and suicide-prone regions in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic to initiate suicide prevention programs of the risky students.

Empirically Evaluated Suicide Prevention Program Approaches for Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Suicide is a serious public health concern, particularly for individuals in later life. Studies suggest that greater attention to suicide prevention programs for older adults is needed as well as continued research related to interventions with older adults at risk of attempting suicide. A systematic review of the literature on suicide prevention treatment and effectiveness is fundamental to assessing existing services and developing new programs and practice standards. This systematic review of the literature extends an earlier and well-cited systematic review (1966-2009) by examining articles published between 2009 and 2021 with a focus on what types of empirically evaluated suicide prevention programs effectively prevent and reduce suicidality in older adults. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were used to gather the appropriate extant research and improve reporting accuracy. A three-stage review guided the selection of the articles. At stage one, titles were screened, which excluded 284 articles based on the inclusion criteria. Second, after a full review of each abstract, a final 14 articles remained for full-text review. Lastly, three independent researchers reviewed each of the full-text articles, and six articles were excluded. The final sample includes eight articles (N=8). The articles were categorized into three types of programs: 1) primary and home health care, 2) community-based outreach, and 3) counseling. Following a description of the articles, the authors assessed each study using the GRADE rating system. Findings underscore the critical need for evidence-based suicide prevention programs for older adults. Implications for future research are offered.

Dying by Suicide in Nursing Homes: A Preventable End of Life Outcome for Older Residents

Suicide research and suicide prevention have given comparatively little attention to the older adult residents of nursing homes. This population is characterized by advanced age, significant infirmity, limited autonomy and social connections, and other factors associated with high suicide risk such as self-neglect. However, little is known of the actual incidence and prevalence of suicide in older adults in such residential care settings, partly because of how such deaths are reported. Suicide risk screenings are nominal, facility staff lack training to identify signs of suicidality, and suicide prevention programs are not common in the nursing home industry. These deficits can be remedied by increasing awareness among family members, facility caregivers, contracted providers, community aging services, accrediting and regulatory agencies, and residents.

SUICIDE PREVENTION IS A COMMUNITY’S RESPONSIBILITY: EVALUATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A SUICIDE PREVENTION TRAINING IN A FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

Suicide prevention is a societal responsibility which Engineering Faculties can address by implementing community-wide interventions to educate staff, faculty and students on how to recognize, respond and connect people in need. COVID-19 has necessitated a reimagining of the way suicide prevention programs are delivered and this paper will highlight the implementation and program evaluation of a new online asynchronous suicide prevention training program at a university’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering which proved to be effective.

Sociodemographic characteristics associated with hospital contact in the year prior to suicide: A data linkage cohort study in Victoria, Australia

Aims The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence of hospital contact in the year prior to suicide in Victoria, Australia, and to compare characteristics among those who did and did not have contact in the year prior to suicide. Methods The study was a data linkage cohort study of 4348 Victorians who died by suicide over the period 2011–2017. Data from the Victorian Suicide Register (VSR) was linked with hospital separations and Emergency Department (ED) presentations datasets by the Centre for Victorian Data Linkages (CVDL). The main outcomes were: (1) hospital contact for any reason, (2) hospital contact for mental-health-related reasons, and (3) hospital contact for intentional self-harm. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios were calculated as the measures of association. Results In the year prior to suicide, half of the decedents (50.0%) had hospital contact for any reason (n = 2172), 28.6% had mental-health-related hospital contact (n = 1244) and 9.9% had hospital contact for intentional self-harm (n = 432). In the year prior to suicide, when compared with males aged 25–49 years (the reference group):males aged 75+ years and females of all ages were significantly more likely to have hospital contact for any reasonfemales aged 10–24 years and 25–49 years were significantly more likely to have mental-health-related hospital contactfemales aged 10–24 years and 25–49 years had 3.5 times and 2.4 times the odds of having hospital contact for intentional self-harm. Conclusions The comparatively high proportion of female decedents with mental-health related hospital contact in the year prior to suicide suggests improving the quality of care for those seeking help is an essential prevention initiative; this could be explored through programs such as the assertive outreach trials currently being implemented in Victoria and elsewhere in Australia. However, the sizeable proportion of males who do not have contact in the year prior to suicide was a consistent finding and represents a challenge for suicide prevention. Programs to identify males at risk in the community and engage them in the health care system are essential. In addition, promising universal and selective interventions to reduce suicide in the cohort who do not have hospital contact, include restricting access to lethal means and other public health interventions are also needed.

AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES ON SUICIDALITY AMONG MEN IN POLAND

This article examines sociological, psychological, and suicidological research on the determinants of male suicide to explore the fact that Polish men complete suicide 7.4 times more than women, a frequency twice as high as in the US. This paper is based upon an examination of relevant literature and statistical databases. A keyword search was completed in both Polish and English language databases. Ideals of masculinity and negative social attitudes towards a non-binary view of gender may increase stressors and discourage men in Poland from revealing their problems while seeking support, explaining the high rates of suicide completion among Polish men. Suicide prevention programs must tackle gender conceptualizations and alcohol use patterns as well as increase avenues for male help-seeking behaviors. These changes will require political and religious organizations to confront the weakening of male hegemony as the organizing principle for family and society. This paper explores the increased rate of male suicide in Poland from the perspective of gender.