Prevalence of suicidal behaviour among students living in Muslim-majority countries: systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: BJPsych Open Vol. 9; no. 3; p. e67
• Main Authors: Arafat, S. M. Yasir, Baminiwatta, Anuradha, Menon, Vikas, Singh, Rakesh, Varadharajan, Natarajan, Guhathakurta, Saptarshi, Mahesar, Rameez Ali, Rezaeian, Mohsen
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.05.2023
• Subjects: Data collection; Elementary schools; Gender; Mental health; meta-analysis; Muslim countries; Muslims; prevalence; Rehabilitation and Social; Review; Sample size; Secondary schools; Suicidal behavior; Suicide; Suicides & suicide attempts; Systematic review; University students; Saudi Arabia; Bangladesh; Turkey; Iran; Egypt; Malaysia; Sierra Leone; United Arab Emirates; meta-analysis; prevalence; Muslim countries; Suicide; systematic review
• ISSN: 2056-4724; 2056-4724
• DOI: 10.1192/bjo.2023.48

Assessing suicidal behaviours among students would help to understand the burden and enhance suicide prevention. We aimed to determine the prevalence of suicidal behaviour among students living in Muslim-majority countries. We followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A systematic search was conducted in Medline, EMBASE and PsycINFO. Meta-analyses were performed to pool the lifetime, 1-year and point prevalence rates for suicidal ideation, plans and attempts. From 80 studies, 98 separate samples were included in this analysis. The majority ( = 49) were from the Eastern Mediterranean, and 61 samples were of university students. The pooled prevalence of suicidal ideation was 21.9% (95% CI 17.4%-27.1%) for lifetime, 13.4% (95% CI 11.1%-16.1%) for the past year and 6.4% (95% CI 4.5%-9%) for current. The pooled prevalence of suicide plans was 6.4% (95% CI 3.7%-11%) for lifetime, 10.7% (95% CI 9.1%-12.4%) for the past year and 4.1% (95% CI 2.7%-6.2%) for current. The pooled prevalence of suicide attempts was 6.6% (95% CI 5.4%-8%) for lifetime and 4.9% (95% CI 3.6%-6.5%) for the past year. The lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation was highest (46.2%) in South-East Asia, but the 12-month prevalence was highest (16.8%) in the Eastern Mediterranean. The study revealed notably high rates of suicidal behaviours among students living in Muslim-majority countries. However, the quality of studies, differences in regional and cultural factors, stages of studentship and methods of measurement should be considered when generalising the study results.