Estimate the prevalence of physical methods used in attempted suicides in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis

One of the most important subjects in the study of suicide is the methods used to it. There are not accurate statistics relating to employed physical methods for suicide in our country. Studies conducted in different provinces provided different results. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of physical methods used in attempted suicides in Iran. All national scientific databases searched with the term “Suicide”. A search strategy was also done using keywords of “Suicide AND Iran” in PubMed and Science direct databases. The conducted database searches was limited to the past twenty years and updated by May 21, 2012. Overall, 1229 articles were retrieved through the initial search. Finally 95 studies included for the analysis. Random effect model of Mantel-Haenzel employed for estimation of pooled prevalence and Q-Cochran test to assess the cause of heterogeneity among the selected studies. The pooled prevalence of suicide methods estimated as hanging with prevalence 17 %(CI 95%: 12 to 21%), self-immolation with prevalence 13% (CI 95%: 9 to 17%) and use of gun 3% (CI 95%: 1 to 4%). The most common physical methods used in suicide were hanging. We proposed more serious mental health programs in primary health care and special treatments for patients with depression and other mental illnesses.