Depression and suicidal behavior in South Asia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

[摘要] Background. Estimates of depression in suicidal behavior in South Asia would help to formulate suicide prevention strategies in the region that hasn’t been assessed yet.Objectives. We aimed to systematically assess the prevalence of depression in fatal and nonfatal attempts of suicide in eight South Asian countries.Methods. We searched Medline, Embase, and PsychINFO by specific search terms to identifyarticles assessing depression in fatal and non-fatal attempts of suicide in South Asian countries published between 2001 and 2020. Two separate meta-analyses were conducted forfatal and non-fatal attempts. Due to the high heterogeneity of studies (96–98%), randomeffects models were used to calculate pooled prevalence rates.Results. A total of 38 studies was identified from five south Asian countries (India [27],Pakistan [6], Sri Lanka [3], Nepal [1], and Bangladesh [1]). The majority of studies (n =27) were published after 2010. Twenty-two studies reported non-fatal attempts, and sixteenreported suicide. The prevalence of depression among non-fatal attempts ranged from 14%to 78% where the pooled prevalence rate was 32.7% [95% CI 26–39.3%]. The prevalence ofdepression among suicides ranged from 8% to 79% where the pooled prevalence estimatewas 37.3% [95% CI 26.9–47.6%].Conclusions. This review revealed the pooled prevalence of depression among fatal and nonfatal suicidal attempts in South Asian countries, which seems to be lower when compared tothe Western countries. However, a cautious interpretation is warranted due to the heterogeneityof study methods, sample size, and measurement of depression.

[学科分类] 化石学

[关键词] Depression;non-fatal attempt;self-harm;South Asia;suicide