Determination of the social related factors of suicide in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

BackgroundSuicide, a social phenomenon, is a major health problem in most countries. Yet data relating to the role social factors play in the development of this condition are lacking, with some factors shrouded in greater ambiguity than others. As such, this review aimed to determine the prevalence of social-related factors resulting in suicide and to present these findings through meta-analyses, allowing for causes of heterogeneity to be examined.MethodsScientific databases including PubMed and Science direct were searched using sensitive keywords. Two researchers reviewed the eligibility of studies and extracted data. Meta-regression with the Mantel-Haenszel method was conducted using a random effect model, in addition to subgroup analysis and Egger’s test.ResultsA total of 2,526 articles were retrieved through the initial search strategy, producing 20 studies from 16 provinces for analysis. The most frequent cause of attempted suicide among the 20 analyzed articles was family conflict with 32% (95% CI: 26–38). Other related factors included marital problems (26%; 95% CI: 20–33), economic constrains (12%; 95% CI: 8–15) and educational failures (5%; 95% CI: 3–8). Results of meta-regression analysis found that sample size significantly affects heterogeneity for the factor ‘family conflict’.ConclusionsSocial factors such as family conflicts and marital problems have a noticeable role in Iranian suicidology.

Trend of Suicide in Iran During 2009 to 2012: Epidemiological Evidences from National Suicide Registration

“…Divorced and widow/widower marital status were also risk factors for increased suicide fatality (33)(34)(35). Having no job as a student, employee or homemaker were other risk factors of fatality in suicide incidents that may indicate the role of both social factors in choosing and acting on more fatal attempts and underline psychopathology that have an impact both on employment status and suicide vulnerability, simultaneously (13,35,36). Medications overdose was the method of choice to attempt suicide in 84% of subjects that is ranked second as the cause of the death by suicide after hanging, which was not only ranked first as cause of death by suicide but was the most lethal suicide method in Iran (5).…”

“…There is a wide range of registered suicidal behaviors in different regions of Iran that not only may show inherent discrepancy in the way people all around the country act but also may be an evidence of variations in registry of inflicted suicide subjects itself. The latter is of course a reflection of how people, including but not limited to registry staff in each sub-cultural area, may perceive, detect and report possible suicidal acts that obviously could include health center officials responsible in the registry (13). During the registry years, there was a significant increase in registry of suicide attempts in the country, including almost all provinces, in contrast to the fact that registration and detection of completed suicide incidents showed a rather stable course; this resulted in decremented rates of fatality of registered suicidal behaviors in Iran as the registry goes on.…”

Silent Change of Suicide in the West of Iran (Kermanshah): Joinpoint Regression Analysis

“…In women, ASR of suicide fluctuated dramatically as it goes beyond the rate of men in age groups [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] In age group 10 -19-years, suicide rate for women was always higher than men during the whole period of observation. The highest rising rate was seen in age group > 70 years by 58.2% increase in average (95% CI: +31.7 -+89.9) (Figure 2).…”

“…Majority of previous studies deal with demographic characteristics of the suicide cases and didn't use correct time trend analysis to show the trends (23,24). In the absence of reliable researches on suicide trend in the west of Iran, limited evidence about its changes in recent decades and upcoming situation is available.…”

Prevalence and risk factors of suicide in a rural area of Shandong province in mainland China: a case control study

“…Poor interpersonal relationship or interpersonal conflict as a risk factor for suicidal behaviors has been reported in different countries [45][46][47] . Differential interactions of interpersonal conflict with gender and ethnicity on the risk for suicide were also observed [48][49].…”