Prevalence of Suicidal Ideation and Associated Risk Factors in the General Population

This study investigated the prevalence of suicide ideation & associated risk factors in the general population of Taiwan. A nationwide community survey was done using a computer-aided telephone interview system. The weighted prevalence of suicide ideation was 2.84 percent in the past week, 5.50 percent in the past year, & 18.49 percent lifetime. Significant risk factors for suicide ideation in the last week included presence of ideation over the past year & during the lifetime, psychiatric morbidity, depression, inferiority, hostility, anxiety, insomnia, history of seeking help for psychological distress, divorce, unemployment, & having suicidal behaviour in family or friends. Stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrated the 5 symptom items of the Brief Symptom Rating Scale-5 & unemployment significantly predicted 25.3 percent of the variance of suicide ideation. (44 refs.) JA