Abstract
We characterized suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among incarcerated people in Iran. We recruited a multistage random sample of 5785 incarcerated people from 33 prisons across Iran. Eligible participants were those aged ≥ 18 years who had been incarcerated for at least one week at the time of the study. Lifetime suicidal ideation and suicide attempts were estimated at 38.2% and 20.5%, respectively. Of participants who reported suicide attempts, 57.6% reported attempts prior to incarceration, 31.5% while incarcerated, and 10.9% both before and during incarceration. Suicide attempt was significantly associated with a younger age, being a woman, being widowed/divorced, a longer period of incarceration, convictions for violent crimes, HIV sero-positivity, lifetime non-injection, and injection drug use. The primary reasons reported for suicide attempts were feeling empty/hopeless and living with substance use disorders. Prison health services should provide a comprehensive, integrated mental health programme, including mental health screening upon arrival and continued care during incarceration.
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Data Availability
Data are owned by the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Iran and are available from the HIV/STI office located at Iran’s MOH (e-mail: aids@behdasht.gov.ir) for researchers who meet the criteria for access to confidential data. The authors of this research were the implementers of the survey and had access to the data with permission obtained from the MOH’s HIV/STI office.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the study participants for their time, as well as the research staff and stakeholders at national and local organizations for their assistance in the survey's preparation and implementation.
Funding
The authors received no funding for this specific paper. The project was supported by the Center for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention of Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education (Ministry of Health Grant number: 95000309). MK is supported by a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship.
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MKH, HSH, AM, MSH, and MK conceptualized the study and developed the aims, design, and data analysis. MKH performed the data analysis. MKH and MK drafted the manuscript. SHH, SM, NGH, FM, MM, and FT collected data. All authors reviewed and edited the final manuscript and approved the submitted version.
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Ethical issues included the guarantee of the participants’ confidentiality using anonymous questionnaire tools and obtaining verbal informed consent for both biological and behavioural data collection procedures. Participants’ receipt of health care services was not impacted by their willingness to participate in the study. The ethics committee of the Kerman University of Medical Sciences approved the study protocol (Ethics Code: IR.KMU.REC.1394.609).
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Khezri, M., Sharifi, H., Mirzazadeh, A. et al. A National Study of Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempt Among Incarcerated People in Iran. Int J Ment Health Addiction 21, 3043–3060 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00773-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00773-6