Suicidal ideation amongst medical students in Shiraz, South of Iran: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Suicide is a preventable act, but irreversible once committed; Hundreds of thousands of people commit suicide annually around the globe. One of the groups at high risk of suicide is medical students. Suicidal ideation (SI) is a forerunner to suicidal attempts which could be assessed. Since there are not enough data about this issue among Iranian medical students, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of SI and risk factors among Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS) undergraduate medical students. An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2022 to February 2023 in the medical school of SUMS. Students willing to participate were recruited by stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire along with Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSSI) and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression model were carried out using BlueSky software. The study identified that 76 out of 308 attendees (24.7%, 95% CI: 19.9%-29.5%) reported experiencing suicidal ideation. Very severe depression [AOR= 26.705, 95% CI: (8.825 – 91.046)], Severe depression [AOR= 17.142, 95% CI: (5.567 – 58.121)], positive family history of psychiatric disorders [AOR= 4.181, 95% CI: (1.773 – 10.014)], comorbid mental illness [AOR= 2.502, 95% CI: (1.123 – 5.553)], were found to be statistically related to having SI. This study showed that one out of every four undergraduate medical students at SUMS has SI, which warns everyone to plan and act to prevent the loss of more lives. Depression, family history of psychiatric disorders, and comorbid mental diseases were found to be strongly associated with SI.