Suicide before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 20(4)2023 Feb 14.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2246512
ABSTRACT
Synthesizing evidence to examine changes in suicide-related outcomes before and during the pandemic can inform suicide management during the COVID-19 crisis. We searched 13 databases as of December 2022 for studies reporting both the pre- and peri-pandemic prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, or rate of death by suicide. A random-effects model was used to pool the ratio of peri- and pre-pandemic prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempt (Prevalence Ratio-PR) and rate of death by suicide (Rate Ratio; RR). We identified 51, 55, and 25 samples for suicidal ideation, attempt, and death by suicide. The prevalence of suicidal ideation increased significantly among non-clinical (PR = 1.142; 95% CI 1.018-1.282; p = 0.024; k = 28) and clinical (PR = 1.134; 95% CI 1.048-1.227; p = 0.002; k = 23) samples, and pooled estimates differed by population and study design. Suicide attempts were more prevalent during the pandemic among non-clinical (PR = 1.14; 95% CI 1.053-1.233; p = 0.001; k = 30) and clinical (PR = 1.32; 95% CI 1.17-1.489; p = 0.000; k = 25) participants. The pooled RR for death by suicide was 0.923 (95% CI 0.84-1.01; p = 0.092; k = 25), indicating a nonsignificant downward trend. An upward trend of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite suicide rate remaining stable. Our findings suggest that timely prevention and intervention programs are highly needed for non-clinical adult population and clinical patients. Monitoring the real-time and long-run suicide risk as the pandemic evolves is warranted.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
/
Reviews
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Limits:
Adult
/
Humans
Language:
English
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijerph20043346
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