Prevalence and Factors Associated with Suicidal Ideationin General population of Shiraz, 2017

Suicide is an important public health challenge. It is estimated that 2 percent of general population seriously contemplate killing themselves during their lifetime. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation and its related issues in a sample taken from the general population of Shiraz in 2017.
 

This project was a cross-sectional analytic study carried out on 2400 people of Shiraz. Participants were selected by randomized cluster sampling according to municipal divisions of Shiraz. The main tool of the research was Beck Suicidal Ideation Scale (BSIS) questionnaire and a demographic form. In addition to the descriptive statistics, Chi-square and independent t-test, as well as regression analysis were used.
 

According to the results, 88.8% of participants had low-risk, 9% had moderate risk, and 2.2% had high risk for suicidal ideation. Mean suicidal ideation score of participants was 2.13±6.30.  According to the  regression analysis, suicidal ideation was associated with female gender, young age group,  single marital status, unemployment , history of suicidal attempt, chronic disease, mental disorder, and drug and alcohol abuse (P<0.01).
 

This study revealed that the strongest predictor of suicidal ideation in society was the history of suicidal dattempts, divorce, and drug and alcohol abuse. It is recommended that people with the history of suicidal attempts be monitored and assessed regularly concerning their levels of suicidal thoughts.