Trends in online searching toward suicide pre-, during, and post the first wave of COVID-19 outbreak in China.
Front Psychiatry
; 13: 947765, 2022.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1993850
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 may increase the risk of suicide, but the conclusion is still unclear. This study was designed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on suicide pre-, during, and post the first wave of COVID-19 in China. It was reported that online public searching was associated with their offline thoughts and behaviors. Therefore, this study was designed to explore the online search for suicide pre-, during, and post-COVID-19 in China. The keywords on suicide, COVID-19, unemployment, and depression were collected in 2019 and 2020 using the Baidu Search Index (BSI). A time-series analysis examined the dynamic correlations between BSI-COVID-19 and BSI-suicide. A generalized estimating equation model was used to calculate the coefficients of variables associated with the BSI-suicide. The BSI-suicide showed a significant increase (15.6%, p = 0.006) from the 5th to 9th week, which was also the point of the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. A time-series analysis between BSI-suicide and BSI-COVID-19 showed that the strongest correlation occurred at lag 1+ and lag 2+ week. In the pre-COVID-19 model, only BSI-depression was highly associated with BSI-suicide (ß = 1.38, p = 0.008). During the COVID-19 model, BSI-depression (ß = 1.77, p = 0.040) and BSI-COVID-19 (ß = 0.03, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with BSI-suicide. In the post-COVID-19 model, BSI depression (ß = 1.55, p = 0.010) was still highly associated with BSI-suicide. Meanwhile, BSI-unemployment (ß = 1.67, p = 0.007) appeared to be linked to BSI-suicide for the first time. There was a surge in suicide-related online searching during the early stage of the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. Online suicide search volume peaked 1-2 weeks after the COVID-19 peak. The BSI of factors associated with suicide varied at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings in this study are preliminary and further research is needed to arrive at evidence of causality.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Language:
English
Journal:
Front Psychiatry
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Fpsyt.2022.947765
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