Prevalence of Ideation, Attempt and Completed Suicide in Iranian Substance Abusers: A Scoping Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Context: Suicide is a serious public health issue that is more prevalent among substance abusers. Objectives: This scoping review aims to examine the prevalence of suicide attempts and completed suicides in this target population. Data Sources: A systematic search was conducted without language or time restrictions in electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Sciences and Google Scholar using medical subject headings (MeSH) keywords. The primary outcome was the overall prevalence of suicide, while secondary outcomes included the prevalence of suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, and completed suicides among the target population. Study Selection: All observational studies (including cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies) were included. Two independent reviewers performed the selection of relevant studies throughout all stages of the study selection process, including screening, full-text review, and quality assessment using a modified version of the Department of Health & Human Services tool. Data Extraction: Data extraction was carried out using Excel, and data analysis was performed using Stata version 17. Ultimately, 13 studies were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis process. Results: The findings revealed that personal and family history of suicide attempts, as well as psychological disorders, significantly increased the odds of mortality. Furthermore, the synthesis of studies indicated that the overall prevalence of suicide (including completed suicides, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts) among this population was: ES [95% confidence interval] = 0.42 [0.31 to 0.52]. In the subgroup analysis, the results showed: The prevalence of completed suicides: ES [95% confidence interval] = 0.59 [0.52 to 0.66]. The prevalence of suicidal ideation: ES [95% confidence interval] = 0.29 [0.26 to 0.31]. The prevalence of suicide attempts: ES [95% confidence interval] = 0.29 [-0.17 to 0.76]. Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate a high prevalence of both completed suicides and suicide attempts among individuals with substance abuse issues. To reduce the incidence of these behaviors, governments should design programs aimed at decreasing the rates of Poisoning and mortality in this population.