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Who attempts suicide among medical students?
G Marcon1, G Massaro Carneiro Monteiro1, P Ballester2
1Post-Graduation Program in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
|December 5, 2019
Summary
Female medical students, those with low income, trauma history, or family suicide history, and those experiencing bullying or suicidal ideation, face higher risks for suicide attempts. These factors can inform suicide prevention strategies.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Psychiatry
- Public Health
Background:
- Medical students face significant mental health challenges.
- Understanding risk factors for suicide attempts is crucial for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify factors associated with a history of suicide attempt in medical students.
- To develop a risk calculator for identifying students at risk for suicide attempts.
Main Methods:
- A web-based survey was administered to a sample of medical students.
- Multi-predictor Poisson regression and elastic net regularization were employed.
- A risk calculator was developed using elastic net regularization.
Main Results:
- The prevalence of suicide attempts was 8.94% among 4,840 participants.
- Key risk factors included female gender, homosexuality, low income, bullying, trauma (childhood/adult), family history of suicide, recent suicidal ideation, tobacco use, and alcohol abuse risk.
- The elastic net model achieved an AUC of 0.83.
Conclusions:
- Several key factors are associated with suicide attempts in medical students.
- The developed risk algorithm accurately identifies students at risk.
- Future research should explore causal relationships and inform prevention strategies.
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