Methods of Suicide Used by People With Cancer: A Scoping Review

Individuals diagnosed with cancer are at increased risk of suicide compared to the general population. Access to means is a key volitional risk factor for suicide and represents a modifiable target for prevention at a population level. Understanding the methods of suicide in this group is crucial to inform targeted prevention strategies.

This scoping review aimed to examine the methods of suicide used by individuals with cancer, identify the types of study designs used to investigate this topic, and evaluate the feasibility of a future systematic review.

This scoping review followed JBI methodology and the PRISMA-ScR checklist. A comprehensive search was conducted in five databases: Medline (EBSCO), PsycINFO (EBSCO), Embase (Elsevier), CINAHL Plus (EBSCO), and Web of Science (Clarivate) and gray literature. Studies were eligible if they quantitatively reported suicide methods in individuals with cancer. Studies of non-fatal self-harm, case reports, or those lacking method-specific data were excluded.

Twenty-seven studies from multiple countries were included. Method choice was influenced by geographical location, age, and sex. There was considerable heterogeneity in study design, cancer definitions, control groups used, and the characteristics of comparison samples reported.

Due to substantial methodological variation, a systematic review is not currently feasible. Future research should, at a minimum, control for age and sex, include underrepresented populations, and adopt region-specific approaches.