Suicidal Behaviors among Bangladeshi Nurses: A Cross-sectional Study in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Though, suicide is a preventable public health problem but prediction is almost impossible. Nevertheless, past suicidal behaviors are important risk factors which should be considered to prevent deaths by suicides. We aimed to explore the suicidal behaviors among currently employed nurses working in a referral hospital of Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was conducted from August to September 2018 among 203 currently working nurses of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Data were collected by face to face interview with pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 20.0. Among the 203 respondents; 175 were female and 28 were male, whose mean age was 28.96±4.08 years, ranging from 22-40 year. About 71% were married, 75% had educational attainment of diploma in nursing, 2% had family history of mental illness and suicide, and another one percent had family history of suicidal attempts. Prevalence of life time suicidal ideation was found as 10%, one-year prevalence rate 4%, one month 2% and within last two days it was found as 1.5%. Mean age of onset of suicidal ideation of the respondents was 23.81±4.9 year ranging from 17-35 year. Late adolescence was found as the entry time of the suicidal thoughts among this specific group. About one in ten nurses had suicidal ideation in their life time. Further larger scale and longitudinal studies are warranted to find out more precise information.