Prevalence of suicidal ideation in Chinese college students: a meta-analysis.

Si-Yuan Tang,Li Liu,Martin Voracek,Ya-Ming Li,Zhan-Zhan Li,Dan Zhang,Lizhang Chen,Xian-Yang Lei

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0104368

Si-Yuan Tang, Li Liu + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0104368

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Journal: PloS one	Publication Date: Oct 6, 2014
Citations: 99	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Central South University

Abstract

BackgroundAbout 1 million people worldwide commit suicide each year, and college students with suicidal ideation are at high risk of suicide. The prevalence of suicidal ideation in college students has been estimated extensively, but quantitative syntheses of overall prevalence are scarce, especially in China. Accurate estimates of prevalence are important for making public policy. In this paper, we aimed to determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation in Chinese college students.Objective and MethodsDatabases including PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Chinese Web of Knowledge, Wangfang (Chinese database) and Weipu (Chinese database) were systematically reviewed to identify articles published between 2004 to July 2013, in either English or Chinese, reporting prevalence estimates of suicidal ideation among Chinese college students. The strategy also included a secondary search of reference lists of records retrieved from databases. Then the prevalence estimates were summarized using a random effects model. The effects of moderator variables on the prevalence estimates were assessed using a meta-regression model.Results A total of 41 studies involving 160339 college students were identified, and the prevalence ranged from 1.24% to 26.00%. The overall pooled prevalence of suicidal ideation among Chinese college students was 10.72% (95%CI: 8.41% to 13.28%). We noted substantial heterogeneity in prevalence estimates. Subgroup analyses showed that prevalence of suicidal ideation in females is higher than in males.ConclusionsThe prevalence of suicidal ideation in Chinese college students is relatively high, although the suicide rate is lower compared with the entire society, suggesting the need for local surveys to inform the development of health services for college students.

Highlights

Subgroup analyses showed that prevalence of suicidal ideation in females is higher than in males
The prevalence of suicidal ideation in Chinese college students is relatively high, the suicide rate is lower compared with the entire society, suggesting the need for local surveys to inform the development of health services for college students
Suicide is usually not an isolated event, but a sequence of processes starting from death wishes, suicidal ideation, suicidal contemplation, suicide attempt, to suicide completion [1,2]

Summary

Introduction

Suicide is usually not an isolated event, but a sequence of processes starting from death wishes, suicidal ideation, suicidal contemplation, suicide attempt, to suicide completion [1,2]. Various suicidal cognitions (death wish, suicidal ideation, and suicide plan) and behaviors (suicide attempt, and commit suicide) are determined by common factors, such as personality characteristics, psychopathology, parenting style, family function, and substance [4,5]. About 1 million people worldwide commit suicide each year, and college students with suicidal ideation are at high risk of suicide. The prevalence of suicidal ideation in college students has been estimated extensively, but quantitative syntheses of overall prevalence are scarce, especially in China. We aimed to determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation in Chinese college students

Methods

Results

Conclusion