Risk factors for suicide in Bangladesh: case–control psychological autopsy study

Abstract

Background Suicide is an important, understudied public health problem in Bangladesh, where risk factors for suicide have not been investigated by case–control psychological autopsy study. Aims To identify the major risk factors for suicide in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Methods We designed a matched case–control psychological autopsy study. We conducted a semi-structured interview with the next-of-kin of 100 individuals who died by suicide and 100 living controls, matched for age, gender and area of residence. The study was conducted from July 2019 to July 2020. Results The odds ratios for the risk factors were 15.33 (95% CI, 4.76–49.30) for the presence of a psychiatric disorder, 17.75 (95% CI, 6.48–48.59) for life events, 65.28 (95% CI, 0.75–5644.48) for previous attempts and 12 (95% CI, 1.56–92.29) for sexual abuse. Conclusions The presence of a psychiatric disorder, immediate life events, previous suicidal attempts and sexual abuse were found as significant risk factors for suicide in Dhaka, Bangladesh.