Prevalence and Determinants of Suicide Ideations Among Students of Selected Tertiary Learning Institutions in Lusaka,...

The transition into university life can be overwhelming for many individuals, as this stage presents new academic, personal, and social change and expectations which can significantly influence a student mental well-being. Failure to cope, low social connectedness and lack of hopefulness about the future has the potential to tip students to suicide ideations. The prevalence and factors associated with suicide ideations among university students is not well investigated in Zambia. Therefore, this study set out to investigated the prevalence and factors associated with suicide ideations among students of selected universities in Lusaka, Zambia.

This was an cross-sectional study conducted at two universities in Lusaka from July to October, 2023 among undergraduates aged 18-29 years. Probability proportional to size was used to determine needed sample size. Participants were pragmatically sampled and a structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Suicidal ideations within the past twelve months was taken as outcome variable. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regressions were performed at 95% confidence interval.

Out of the total 384 participants, 71% (272) from University of Zambia and 29% (112) from University of Lusaka. Slightly over half (54%) were females and majority (90%) were aged 18-24 years. The prevalence of suicidal ideations within the past 12 months was reported at 33.9% [95% CI: 29.3-38.8]. Factors such as drug/alcohol consumption (AOR = 1.79, CI: 1.08-2.97), depressive symptoms (AOR = 2.17, CI: 1.30-3.64), feelings of hopelessness (AOR = 3.89, CI: 1.47-10.37), and lack of supportive families (AOR = 3.19, CI: 1.45-6.91) were significantly associated with increased odds of suicide ideations while being male was protective compared to being female (AOR = 0.61; 95% CI: 0.38-0.97).

The study underscores existence of prevalent suicide ideations among university students, emphasizing the critical importance of addressing mental health challenges among university students.