Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic brought several behavioral changes in the social, academic and professional spheres, caused numerous deaths and, due to the lack of treatment, imposed social isolation and an adaptation of daily activities, restricted to the remote format, causing emotional and mental instability. in society. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of suicidal ideation and associated factors among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Rapid Systematic Review was performed using several databases. Observational studies evaluating suicidal ideation among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic were considered. Articles were assessed for risk of bias by the Joanna Briggs Institute Instrument. Data were extracted for analysis of associated factors and prevalence meta-analysis. Eleven articles were included. The prevalence of suicidal ideation among university students ranged from 1.7 to 19.6%, with a combined prevalence of 12.1% (95% CI: 9.6-15.0%). Factors associated with suicidal ideation were excessive screen time, social isolation, sleep disorders, symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and being female. The quality of articles ranged from high to low risk of bias. The combined prevalence of suicidal ideation among university students in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic was high, with social isolation and screen time as factors associated with the new context of the pandemic. The findings indicate that support measures should be made available to students during the pandemic to ensure mental health.
Highlights
Since the beginning of the new Coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) pandemic, which first case was diagnosed in Wuhan (Hubei/China) in December 2019, humanity is facing a severe health crisis, characterized as a global public health problem and without any prediction of its duration (Sohrabi et al, 2020)
All 11 studies included in this review were published in 2020, the geographic distribution of the selected articles was concentrated in China (n=3), the United States (n=2) and the others distributed among Bangladesh (n=2), Greece, France, Cuba, and Indonesia/Taiwan/Thailand with 1 study each
University students are vulnerable to mental health problems; in this regard, this Rapid Systematic Review seems to be the first to map the literature on suicidal ideation in this population during the COVID-19 pandemic period and we observed a high combined prevalence in the studies, which is associated with several important factors
Summary
Since the beginning of the new Coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) pandemic, which first case was diagnosed in Wuhan (Hubei/China) in December 2019, humanity is facing a severe health crisis, characterized as a global public health problem and without any prediction of its duration (Sohrabi et al, 2020). 2021 we observe the United States of America with more than 792,000 deaths, Brazil, accounting for more than 616,000 deaths, India with more than 474,000 deaths and Mexico with more than 296,000 deaths (WHO, 2021) In this context, a broad vaccination of the population, the use of masks, the rigorous hygiene of hands, the maintenance of distancing measures and social isolation through sanitary restrictions and quarantines are the main prevention strategies (Aquino et al, 2020; Kim & Su, 2020). The most critical were suicidal behaviors, which include ideation, plans, suicide attempt and consummate suicide (Auerbach et al, 2016). Suicidal ideation has been identified in studies conducted among university students from the US, Poland, China, Bangladesh, France, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Cuba, Greece over the years (Wilcox et al, 2010; Li et al, 2014; Zhai et al, 2015; Eskin et al, 2016; Peltzer & Pengpid, 2017; Rahman et al, 2020; Cha et al, 2018; Lindsey et al, 2017)
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