Journal of the Formosan Medical Association
Volume 109, Issue 2 , Pages 138-147, February 2010

Prevalence of Suicidal Ideation and Associated Risk Factors in the General Population

  • Jia-In Lee

      Affiliations

    • School of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Ming-Been Lee

      Affiliations

    • Departments of Psychiatry and Social Medicine, National Taiwan University and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
    • Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence to: Dr Ming-Been Lee, Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, 7 Chung Shan South Road, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Shih-Cheng Liao

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    • Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center, Department of Health, Chang-Gun Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Chia-Ming Chang

      Affiliations

    • Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center, Department of Health, Chang-Gun Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    • Department of Psychiatry, Chang-Gun Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Suz-Chieh Sung

      Affiliations

    • Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center, Department of Health, Chang-Gun Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Hung-Chi Chiang

      Affiliations

    • Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center, Department of Health, Chang-Gun Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Chuan-Wan Tai

      Affiliations

    • Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center, Department of Health, Chang-Gun Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

Received 20 August 2009; received in revised form 6 October 2009; accepted 25 October 2009.

Article Outline

Background/Purpose

Suicide is an important public health problem and one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The present study investigated the prevalence of suicidal ideation (SI) and its associated risk factors in the general population.

Methods

A nationwide community survey was conducted using a computer-aided telephone interview system with residents aged ≥ 15 years, who were selected by a stratified, proportional randomization method. The questionnaire comprised demographic variables, five items of psychopathology selected from the Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS-5) and questions about personal experience with suicide. In total, 2054 respondents, 1002 male (48.8%), and 1052 female (51.2%), completed the survey.

Results

The weighted prevalence of SI was 2.84% in the past week, 5.50% in the past year, and 18.49% during a lifetime. Significant risk factors for SI in the last week included presence of SI over the past year [odds ratio (OR) =1763.6], SI during the lifetime (OR =267.6), psychiatric morbidity (OR = 30.3), depression (OR =26.1), inferiority (OR =11.2), hostility (OR = 10.9), anxiety (OR = 10.5), insomnia (OR =6.7), history of seeking help for psychological distress (OR = 7.9), divorce (OR =6.4), unemployment (OR = 5.0) and having suicidal behavior in relatives or friends (OR =3.8). Stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the five symptom items of BSRS-5 and unemployment significantly predicted 25.3% of the variance of SI. Using the BSRS-5 score 3 or 4 as a cut-off to predict SI, the rate of accurate classification was 85.88%, with sensitivity of 0.83 and specificity of 0.86.

Conclusion

A telephone interview survey containing the BSRS-5 items is an efficient way to identify determinants of SI in the general population.

Key Words:  psychopathology , risk factors , self-rating scale , suicidal ideation

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PII: S0929-6646(10)60034-4

doi:10.1016/S0929-6646(10)60034-4

Journal of the Formosan Medical Association
Volume 109, Issue 2 , Pages 138-147, February 2010

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