Al-Mamun Firoj, Kaggwa Mark Mohan, Hosen Ismail, Sikder Md Tajuddin, Griffiths Mark D, Mamun Mohammed A
CHINTA Research Bangladesh, Dhaka, 1342 Savar, Bangladesh.
Department of Public Health and Informatics, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Savar, 1342 Bangladesh.
Discov Psychol. 2023;3(1):2. doi: 10.1007/s44202-022-00063-1. Epub 2023 Jan 10.
The suicide rate has increased during the pandemic in India. Moreover, several studies, especially press-media reporting suicide studies have been conducted but no systematic review has been attempted in this context. Therefore, the present study systematically investigated the risk factors associated with suicidal behaviors, and the method of suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
Following the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was performed to include papers published up until September 30, 2022. From an initial 144 papers, 18 studies which met the inclusion criteria were included in the present review. The Pierson's method was used for quality assessment of the included studies in the present review.
The risk factors associated with suicide comprised: (i) socio-demographic factors (e.g., being aged between 31 and 50 years, male, married, unemployed), (ii) behavior and health-related factors (e.g., unavailability of alcohol and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, poor state of physical health and health issues, family disputes, relationship complexities, and sexual harassment), (iii) COVID-19-related factors (e.g., fear of COVID-19, COVID-19 test results, quarantine or isolation, financial hardship due to the pandemic, having influenza-like symptoms, experiencing stigmatization and ostracism despite testing negative, separation from family due to transport restrictions, misinterpreting other illness symptoms as COVID-19, saving the village from infection, watching COVID-19 videos on social media, online schooling, perceived stigma toward COVID-19, and being suspected of having COVID-19), and (iv) psychopathological stressors (depression, loneliness, stress, addiction, and poor mental health, suicidal tendencies, helplessness, and worrying). Hanging was the most common method of suicide. In addition, jumping from high buildings, poisoning, drowning, burning, cutting or slitting throat or wrists, self-immolation, medication overdose, electrocution, pesticide, and gun-shot were also used to carry out the suicide.
Findings from this research suggest multiple reasons for suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic and knowledge of such factors could aid in developing suicide prevention strategies focusing the most vulnerable cohorts inside and outside India.
在印度，疫情期间自杀率有所上升。此外，已经开展了多项研究，尤其是媒体报道的自杀研究，但尚未在此背景下进行系统综述。因此，本研究系统地调查了印度在新冠疫情期间与自杀行为相关的风险因素以及自杀方式。
遵循PRISMA指南，进行系统检索以纳入截至2022年9月30日发表的论文。从最初的144篇论文中，本综述纳入了18项符合纳入标准的研究。采用皮尔逊方法对本综述中纳入的研究进行质量评估。
与自杀相关的风险因素包括：（i）社会人口学因素（如年龄在31至50岁之间、男性、已婚、失业），（ii）行为和健康相关因素（如无法获得酒精及酒精戒断症状、身体健康状况不佳及健康问题、家庭纠纷、关系复杂和性骚扰），（iii）与新冠疫情相关的因素（如对新冠疫情的恐惧、新冠病毒检测结果、隔离或检疫、疫情导致的经济困难、有流感样症状、尽管检测呈阴性仍遭受污名化和排斥、因交通限制与家人分离、将其他疾病症状误解为新冠病毒感染、拯救村庄免受感染、在社交媒体上观看新冠疫情视频、在线上学、对新冠疫情的感知污名以及被怀疑感染新冠病毒），以及（iv）精神病理应激源（抑郁、孤独、压力、成瘾、心理健康不佳、自杀倾向、无助和担忧）。上吊是最常见的自杀方式。此外，跳楼、中毒、溺水、焚烧、割喉或割腕、自焚、过量服药、触电、服用农药和枪击也被用于实施自杀。
本研究结果表明，新冠疫情期间自杀存在多种原因，了解这些因素有助于制定针对印度国内外最脆弱人群的自杀预防策略。
