Prevalence of Suicidal Behavior in Bangladesh: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Determination of the prevalence of suicidal behaviors (thoughts, plans, and attempts) would help to comprehend the burden and chances of death by suicide. However, no previous meta-analysis was noted measuring the rates of different suicidal behaviors in Bangladesh. Therefore, we aimed to determine the prevalence of suicidal behavior in the country.

We registered the protocol in PROSPERO (CRD42024613969) and followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines. We searched PubMed and Scopus and conducted meta-analyses to pool the lifetime, 1-year, and point prevalence estimates for suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts.

Our search included 34 studies with 27,992 responses between 2015 and 2024. Half of the studies were conducted among students. The pooled prevalence of suicidal thoughts was 24.2% (95% CI: 15.7%-35.3%) during the lifetime (15 studies, 12,710 subjects), 15% (95% CI: 10.7%-20.5%) during a year (20 studies, 15,020 subjects), and 6.7% (95% CI: 3.2%-13.8%) during a month (11 studies, 7047 subjects). Statistical heterogeneity ranged from 96.6% to 99.3%. The pooled prevalence of suicide plan was 5.6% (95% CI: 2.4%-12.8%) during the lifetime (7 studies, 5772 subjects), and 5.2% (95% CI: 3.1%-8.8%) during a year (5 studies). Statistical heterogeneity ranged from 82.1% to 97.9%. The pooled prevalence of suicide attempt was 7% (95% CI: 4.3%-11.1%) during the lifetime (15 studies, 11,699 subjects), and 3.9% (95% CI: 2.8%-5.3%) during a year (7 studies, 8107 subjects). Statistical heterogeneity ranged from 88.1% to 95.4%.

The rates of suicidal behavior are high in Bangladesh, as about one in four persons has thoughts and about one in fourteen persons has attempted during their lifetime. Attention from multiple stakeholders is warranted to ensure preventive measures in Bangladesh.