Table 1. Characteristics of included studies.
| Author (year) country |
No. cases (% male/age range) |
Setting | Assessment type | Outcome | Quality | Single largest method group (%) | Multiple reports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbas (2018) Iraq [38] |
647 (58%/All ages) |
Police | Clinician diagnosis | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Hanging (41%) |
||
| Abeyasinghe (2008) Sri Lanka [39] |
372 (79%/≥10) |
Multiple sources | Clinician diagnosis | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (70%) |
||
| Ali (2014) Malaysia [40] |
328 (74%/All ages) |
Coroners | Clinician diagnosis | Fatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Altindag (2005) Turkey [41] |
26 (15%/All ages) |
Coroners | Clinician diagnosis | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Hanging (45%) |
||
| Bhise (2016) India [42] |
98 (90%/All ages*) |
Coroners | Clinician diagnosis | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (68%) |
||
| Hagaman (2017) Nepal [43] |
302 (57%/≥18) |
Police | PHQ-9 | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Hanging (63%) |
||
| Hayati (2004) Malaysia [44] |
76 (72%/All ages*) |
Coroners | Clinician diagnosis | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (39%) |
||
| Jia (2014) China [45] |
200 (58%/All ages) |
Surveillance | SCID | Fatal suicidal behaviour | High | ||
| Khan (2005) India [46] |
50 (0%/15–35) |
Coroners | Clinician diagnosis | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Hanging (40%) |
||
| Khan (2008) Pakistan [47] |
100 (83%/All ages*) |
Police | Clinician diagnosis | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Hanging (40%) |
||
| Khelil (2016) Tunisia [37] |
235 (69%/All ages) |
Coroners | Clinician diagnosis | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Burning (100%) |
||
| Kurihara (2009) Indonesia [48] |
60 (63%/All ages) |
Police | SCID | Fatal suicidal behaviour | High | Hanging (68%) |
|
| Maksuti (2012) Albania [49] |
254 (64%/All ages) |
Coroners | Clinician diagnosis | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (39%) |
||
| Manoranjitham (2010) India [50] |
100 (59%/All ages*) |
Surveillance | SCID | Fatal suicidal behaviour | High | ||
| Palacio (2007) Colombia [51] |
108 (81%/All ages*) |
Coroners | Clinician diagnosis | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Hanging (47%) |
[51] | |
| Samaraweera (2008) Sri Lanka [52] |
27 (70%/All ages*) |
Coroners | Clinician diagnosis | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (70%) |
||
| Taktak (2013) Turkey [53] |
124 (67%/All ages) |
Coroners | Clinician diagnosis | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Hanging (60%) |
||
| Tong (A) (2018) China [15] |
151 (55%/≥18) |
Surveillance | SCID | Fatal suicidal behaviour | High | Pesticide poisoning (55%) |
[54] |
| Yang (2005) China [55] |
895 (51%/≥10) |
Surveillance | SCID | Fatal suicidal behaviour | High | Pesticide poisoning (58%) |
[9,56–62] |
| Zhang (2004) China [63] |
66 (73%/All ages) |
Surveillance | SCID | Fatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (70%) |
[64] | |
| Zhang (2010) China [65] |
392 (55%/15–34) |
Surveillance | SCID | Fatal suicidal behaviour | High | Pesticide poisoning (73%) |
[66–80] |
| Zhou (2012) China [81] |
200 (%/All ages) |
Surveillance | SCID | Fatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Aghanwa (2004) Fiji [82] |
128 (31%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (51%) |
[83] | |
| Ahmadi (2010) Iran [34] |
30 (13%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Burning (100%) |
||
| Atay (2012) Turkey [84] |
26 (0%/18–65 years) |
Community (self-report) | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (73%) |
||
| Ayehu (2017) Ethiopia [85] |
96 (42%/≥14) |
Hospital | MINI-plus | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | High | Pesticide poisoning (44%) |
|
| Bansal (1) (2011) India [86] |
100 (42%/≥16) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (87%) |
||
| Bansal (2) (2011) India [87] |
100 (61%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (69%) |
||
| Barrimi (2014) Morocco [88] |
31 (58%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (52%) |
||
| Batinic (2012) Serbia [89] |
60 (53%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Self-cutting (35%) |
||
| Bhattacharjee (2012) India [90] |
200 (50%/≥15) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Bi (2010) China [91] |
239 (22%/≥15) |
Hospital | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | High | Poisoning (92%) |
|
| Bilginer (2017) Turkey [31] |
100 (13%/Young people) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (100%) |
||
| Borges (2010) Mexico [92] |
166 (%/18–65) |
Community (self-report) | WHO CIDI | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Caribe (2012) Brazil [29] |
110 (46%/–18) |
Hospital | MINI | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (49%) |
||
| Chandrasekaran (2005) India [93] |
341 (45%/18+) |
Hospital | MINI | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (91%) |
[94] | |
| Chatterjee (2015) India [95] |
100 (34%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Cherif (2012) Tunisia [96] |
30 (%/Adolescents) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (67%) |
||
| Cosar (1997) Turkey [97] |
185 (40%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (61%) |
||
| de Silva (A) (2000) Sri Lanka [98] |
172 (44%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (67%) |
||
| de Silva (B) (2000) Sri Lanka [98] |
140 (54%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Diehl (2009) Brazil [99] |
39 (%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (48%) |
||
| Farzaneh (2010) Iran [36] |
248 (19%/12–18) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (88%) |
||
| Fresan (2015) Mexico [100] |
140 (36%/15–60) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (44%) |
||
| Galgali (1998) India [35] |
308 (51%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (100%) |
||
| Gao (2017) China [101] |
730 (30%/All ages) |
Community (self-report) | BDI | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Ghaleiha (2012) Iran [102] |
1,566 (47%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (83%) |
||
| Gomes (2009) Brazil [103] |
132 (0%/10–49) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (95%) |
||
| Grau (2013) Colombia [104] |
217 (46%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Grover (2016) India [105] |
109 (48%/<18) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis and BDI | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (52%) |
||
| Haddad (1998) Jordan [33] |
20 (20%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Burning (100%) |
||
| Haider (2016) India [106] |
100 (28%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis, BDI | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (71%) |
||
| Ibiloglu (2016) Turkey [107] |
106 (46%/18–55) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis and SCID-I | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (82%) |
||
| Jain (1999) India [108] |
56 (59%/≥15) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (57%) |
||
| Jiang (2013) China [109] |
297 (26%/All ages) |
Hospital | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (81%) |
||
| Kar (2010) India [110] |
149 (44%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (41%) |
||
| Khan (1998) Pakistan [111] |
447 (41%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (74%) |
||
| Khazaei (2003) Iran [112] |
301 (44%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Kinyanda (2004) Uganda [113] |
100 (64%/≥15) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (45%) |
||
| Kulkarni (2013) India [114] |
100 (52%/18–55) |
Hospital | SCID and International Personality Disorder Examination | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | High | Pesticide poisoning (71%) |
[115,116] |
| Kumar (1998) India [117] |
100 (65%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (53%) |
||
| Kumar (2006) India [118] |
203 (51%/16–65) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning | ||
| Kumar (2015) India [119] |
1,159 (50%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (76%) |
||
| Lari (2007) Iran [25] |
89 (21%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Burns (100%) |
||
| Latha (1996) India [120] |
73 (62%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis and BDI | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (67%) |
||
| Liu (2018) China [121] |
409 (32%/15–70) |
Hospital | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | High | [121–123] | |
| Ma (1999) China [124] |
98 (20%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Chinese mental health screening scale | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (75%) |
||
| Maselko (2008) India [125] |
2,318 (0%/18–45) |
Community (self-report) | CIS-R | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Mechri (2005) Tunisia [126] |
90 (59%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose | ||
| Mohammadi (2005) Iran [127] |
362 (30%/≥18) |
Community (self-report) | SADS | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Moosa (2005) South Africa [128] |
43 (40%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (63%) |
||
| Mugisha (2015) Uganda [129] |
17 (%/≥18) |
Community (self-report) | MINI-plus | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Muralidhara (2011) India [130] |
51 (53%/18–65) |
Hospital | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (68%) |
||
| Naidoo (2013) South Africa [131] |
688 (25%/≥18) |
Hospital | BDI | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (92%) |
||
| Narang (2000) India [132] |
100 (58%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (77%) |
||
| Ndosi (1997) Tanzania [133] |
300 (31%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Overdoses (91%) |
||
| Ozdel (2009) Turkey [134] |
144 (25%/All ages*) |
Hospital | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (70%) |
||
| Paholpak (2012) Thailand ** [18] |
8,426 (%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | High | Poisoning (89%) |
|
| Pandey (2013) India [135] |
80 (53%/18–60) |
Hospital | SCID-I and II | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Parkar (2006) India [136] |
196 (53%/≥18) |
Hospital | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (74%) |
[137] | |
| Pearson (2002) China [138] |
147 (0%/15–35) |
Hospital | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (88%) |
||
| Pérez-Olmos (2007) Colombia [139] |
96 (27%/11–18) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (97%) |
||
| Qusar (2009) Bangladesh [140] |
44 (41%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (95%) |
||
| Rajapakse (2014) Sri Lanka [28] |
949 (44%/≥14) |
Hospital | GAD-7, PHQ-9, and AUDIT | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (100%) |
||
| Read (1997) South Africa [141] |
100 (25%/13–25) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis, BDI, Hamilton, and the Montgomery-Asberg | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (83%) |
||
| Reza (2013) Bangladesh** [16] |
113 (39%/All ages) |
Community (self-report) | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Rezaie (2011) Iran [142] |
200 (34%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (69%) |
||
| Risal (2011) Nepal [143] |
73 (30%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (93%) |
||
| Santos (2009) Brazil [144] |
96 (38%/All ages*) |
Hospital | CIDI | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | High | Drug overdose (40%) |
|
| Sathish (2016) India [145] |
50 (52%/All ages) |
Hospital | MINI-plus | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | High | Poisoning (60%) |
|
| Seghatoleslam (2013) Iran [26] |
292 (18%/6–15) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (89%) |
||
| Shakeri (2015) Iran [146] |
400 (0%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Burning (44%) |
||
| Sharma (1998) India [147] |
75 (47%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (75%) |
||
| Sheikholeslami (2008) Iran [148] |
575 (30%/All ages*) |
Hospital | SCID-I and II | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (90%) |
||
| Simsek (2013) Turkey [149] |
693 (22%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (90%) |
||
| Srivastava (2004) India [150] |
137 (47%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning | ||
| Sun (2017) China [151] |
791 (37%/15–54) |
Hospital | SCID-I | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | High | Pesticide poisoning (37%) |
[152] |
| Thalagala (2003) Sri Lanka [153] |
396 (54%/All ages*) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| Thanh (2005) Vietnam [154] |
515 (37%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (urban) and pesticide poisoning (rural) | ||
| Tong (B) (2018) China [15] |
120 (34%/≥18) |
Hospital | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | High | Pesticide poisoning (70%) |
[54] |
| Toudehskchuie (2016) Iran [27] |
240 (41%/All ages) |
Hospital | SCID and alcohol dependency scale | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (73%) |
||
| Trabelsi (2015) Tunisia [155] |
33 (58%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Drug overdose (58%) |
||
| Tuan (2009) Vietnam [30] |
309 (28%/All ages) |
Hospital | CIDI | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (100%) |
||
| Unni (1995) India [156] |
100 (%/≥10) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | |||
| van der Hoek (2005) Sri Lanka [32] |
200 (61%/≥16) |
Hospital | CIDI-SF | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning | ||
| Vásquez-Rojas (2013) Colombia [157] |
213 (26%/Children) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning | ||
| Vishnuvardhan (2012) India [158] |
100 (48%/≥18) |
Hospital | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Pesticide poisoning (57%) |
||
| Wang (2012) China [159] |
59 (%/≥18) |
Community (self-report) | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | High | ||
| Wei (2013) China [160] |
239 (22%/≥15) |
Hospital | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Poisoning (93%) |
[161] | |
| Wilson (1994) South Africa [24] |
25 (76%/All ages) |
Hospital | Clinician diagnosis | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Battery acid (100%) |
||
| Xiao (2011) China [162] |
617 (26%/All ages*) |
Hospital | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | High | Pesticide poisoning (76%) |
[163–167] |
| Zarghami (2002) Iran** [17] |
318 (17%/All ages) |
Hospital | SCID | Nonfatal suicidal behaviour | Burning (100%) |
*Assumed all ages included.
**Study reports on both fatal and nonfatal suicidal behaviour as a combined outcome. The majority outcome (fatal/nonfatal) was used to class the study as either being a study of fatal or nonfatal suicidal behaviour.
Abbreviations: AUDIT, Alcohol use disorders identification test; BDI, Becks depression inventory; CIDI-SF, Composite international diagnostic interview–short form; CIS-R, Clinical interview schedule-revised; GAD-7, Generalised anxiety disorder assessment; MINI, Mini-international neuropsychiatric interview; PHQ-9, Patient health questionnaire; SADS, Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia; SCID, structured clinical interview for DSM