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Suicide numbers during the first 9-15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with pre-existing trends : an interrupted time series analysis in 33 countries

Jane Pirkis, David Gunnell, Sangsoo Shin, Marcos Del Pozo-Banos, Vikas Arya, Pablo Analuisa Aguilar, Louis Appleby, S. M. Yasir Arafat, Ella Arensman, Jose Luis Ayuso-Mateos, et al.
(2022) ECLINICALMEDICINE. 51.
Author
Organization
Abstract
Background Predicted increases in suicide were not generally observed in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the picture may be changing and patterns might vary across demographic groups. We aimed to provide a timely, granular picture of the pandemic's impact on suicides globally. Methods We identified suicide data from official public-sector sources for countries/areas-within-countries, searching websites and academic literature and contacting data custodians and authors as necessary. We sent our first data request on 22nd June 2021 and stopped collecting data on 31st October 2021. We used interrupted time series (ITS) analyses to model the association between the pandemic's emergence and total suicides and suicides by sex-, age-and sex-by-age in each country/area-within-country. We compared the observed and expected numbers of suicides in the pandemic's first nine and first 10-15 months and used meta-regression to explore sources of variation. Findings We sourced data from 33 countries (24 high-income, six upper-middle-income, three lower-middle-income; 25 with whole-country data, 12 with data for area(s)-within-the-country, four with both). There was no evidence of greater-than-expected numbers of suicides in the majority of countries/areas-within-countries in any analysis; more commonly, there was evidence of lower-than-expected numbers. Certain sex, age and sex-by-age groups stood out as potentially concerning, but these were not consistent across countries/areas-within-countries. In the meta-regression, different patterns were not explained by countries' COVID-19 mortality rate, stringency of public health response, economic support level, or presence of a national suicide prevention strategy. Nor were they explained by countries' income level, although the meta-regression only included data from high-income and upper-middle-income countries, and there were suggestions from the ITS analyses that lower-middle-income countries fared less well. Interpretation Although there are some countries/areas-within-countries where overall suicide numbers and numbers for certain sex- and age-based groups are greater-than-expected, these countries/areas-within-countries are in the minority. Any upward movement in suicide numbers in any place or group is concerning, and we need to remain alert to and respond to changes as the pandemic and its mental health and economic consequences continue. Copyright (C) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Keywords
Suicide, COVID-19, Pandemic, Monitoring

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MLA
Pirkis, Jane, et al. “Suicide Numbers during the First 9-15 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic Compared with Pre-Existing Trends : An Interrupted Time Series Analysis in 33 Countries.” ECLINICALMEDICINE, vol. 51, 2022, doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101573.
APA
Pirkis, J., Gunnell, D., Shin, S., Del Pozo-Banos, M., Arya, V., Aguilar, P. A., … Spittal, M. J. (2022). Suicide numbers during the first 9-15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with pre-existing trends : an interrupted time series analysis in 33 countries. ECLINICALMEDICINE, 51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101573
Chicago author-date
Pirkis, Jane, David Gunnell, Sangsoo Shin, Marcos Del Pozo-Banos, Vikas Arya, Pablo Analuisa Aguilar, Louis Appleby, et al. 2022. “Suicide Numbers during the First 9-15 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic Compared with Pre-Existing Trends : An Interrupted Time Series Analysis in 33 Countries.” ECLINICALMEDICINE 51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101573.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Pirkis, Jane, David Gunnell, Sangsoo Shin, Marcos Del Pozo-Banos, Vikas Arya, Pablo Analuisa Aguilar, Louis Appleby, S. M. Yasir Arafat, Ella Arensman, Jose Luis Ayuso-Mateos, Yatan Pal Singh Balhara, Jason Bantjes, Anna Baran, Chittaranjan Behera, Jose Bertolote, Guilherme Borges, Michael Bray, Petrana Brečić, Eric Caine, Raffaella Calati, Vladimir Carli, Giulio Castelpietra, Lai Fong Chan, Shu-Sen Chang, David Colchester, Maria Coss-Guzmán, David Crompton, Marko Ćurković, Rakhi Dandona, Eva De Jaegere, Diego De Leo, Eberhard A. Deisenhammer, Jeremy Dwyer, Annette Erlangsen, Jeremy S. Faust, Michele Fornaro, Sarah Fortune, Andrew Garrett, Guendalina Gentile, Rebekka Gerstner, Renske Gilissen, Madelyn Gould, Sudhir Kumar Gupta, Keith Hawton, Franziska Holz, Iurii Kamenshchikov, Navneet Kapur, Alexandr Kasal, Murad Khan, Olivia J. Kirtley, Duleeka Knipe, Kairi Kõlves, Sarah C. Kölzer, Hryhorii Krivda, Stuart Leske, Fabio Madeddu, Andrew Marshall, Anjum Memon, Ellenor Mittendorfer-Rutz, Paul Nestadt, Nikolay Neznanov, Thomas Niederkrotenthaler, Emma Nielsen, Merete Nordentoft, Herwig Oberlerchner, Rory C. O’Connor, Rainer Papsdorf, Timo Partonen, Michael R. Phillips, Steve Platt, Gwendolyn Portzky, Georg Psota, Ping Qin, Daniel Radeloff, Andreas Reif, Christine Reif-Leonhard, Mohsen Rezaeian, Nayda Román-Vázquez, Saska Roskar, Vsevolod Rozanov, Grant Sara, Karen Scavacini, Barbara Schneider, Natalia Semenova, Mark Sinyor, Stefano Tambuzzi, Ellen Townsend, Michiko Ueda, Danuta Wasserman, Roger T. Webb, Petr Winkler, Paul S.F. Yip, Gil Zalsman, Riccardo Zoja, Ann John, and Matthew J. Spittal. 2022. “Suicide Numbers during the First 9-15 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic Compared with Pre-Existing Trends : An Interrupted Time Series Analysis in 33 Countries.” ECLINICALMEDICINE 51. doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101573.
Vancouver
1.
Pirkis J, Gunnell D, Shin S, Del Pozo-Banos M, Arya V, Aguilar PA, et al. Suicide numbers during the first 9-15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with pre-existing trends : an interrupted time series analysis in 33 countries. ECLINICALMEDICINE. 2022;51.
IEEE
[1]
J. Pirkis et al., “Suicide numbers during the first 9-15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with pre-existing trends : an interrupted time series analysis in 33 countries,” ECLINICALMEDICINE, vol. 51, 2022.
@article{8762952,
  abstract     = {{Background Predicted increases in suicide were not generally observed in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the picture may be changing and patterns might vary across demographic groups. We aimed to provide a timely, granular picture of the pandemic's impact on suicides globally.

Methods We identified suicide data from official public-sector sources for countries/areas-within-countries, searching websites and academic literature and contacting data custodians and authors as necessary. We sent our first data request on 22nd June 2021 and stopped collecting data on 31st October 2021. We used interrupted time series (ITS) analyses to model the association between the pandemic's emergence and total suicides and suicides by sex-, age-and sex-by-age in each country/area-within-country. We compared the observed and expected numbers of suicides in the pandemic's first nine and first 10-15 months and used meta-regression to explore sources of variation.

Findings We sourced data from 33 countries (24 high-income, six upper-middle-income, three lower-middle-income; 25 with whole-country data, 12 with data for area(s)-within-the-country, four with both). There was no evidence of greater-than-expected numbers of suicides in the majority of countries/areas-within-countries in any analysis; more commonly, there was evidence of lower-than-expected numbers. Certain sex, age and sex-by-age groups stood out as potentially concerning, but these were not consistent across countries/areas-within-countries. In the meta-regression, different patterns were not explained by countries' COVID-19 mortality rate, stringency of public health response, economic support level, or presence of a national suicide prevention strategy. Nor were they explained by countries' income level, although the meta-regression only included data from high-income and upper-middle-income countries, and there were suggestions from the ITS analyses that lower-middle-income countries fared less well.

Interpretation Although there are some countries/areas-within-countries where overall suicide numbers and numbers for certain sex- and age-based groups are greater-than-expected, these countries/areas-within-countries are in the minority. Any upward movement in suicide numbers in any place or group is concerning, and we need to remain alert to and respond to changes as the pandemic and its mental health and economic consequences continue. Copyright (C) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)}},
  articleno    = {{101573}},
  author       = {{Pirkis, Jane and Gunnell, David and Shin, Sangsoo and Del Pozo-Banos, Marcos and Arya, Vikas and Aguilar, Pablo Analuisa and Appleby, Louis and Arafat, S. M. Yasir and Arensman, Ella and Ayuso-Mateos, Jose Luis and Balhara, Yatan Pal Singh and Bantjes, Jason and Baran, Anna and Behera, Chittaranjan and Bertolote, Jose and Borges, Guilherme and Bray, Michael and Brečić, Petrana and Caine, Eric and Calati, Raffaella and Carli, Vladimir and Castelpietra, Giulio and Chan, Lai Fong and Chang, Shu-Sen and Colchester, David and Coss-Guzmán, Maria and Crompton, David and Ćurković, Marko and Dandona, Rakhi and De Jaegere, Eva and De Leo, Diego and Deisenhammer, Eberhard A. and Dwyer, Jeremy and Erlangsen, Annette and Faust, Jeremy S. and Fornaro, Michele and Fortune, Sarah and Garrett, Andrew and Gentile, Guendalina and Gerstner, Rebekka and Gilissen, Renske and Gould, Madelyn and Gupta, Sudhir Kumar and Hawton, Keith and Holz, Franziska and Kamenshchikov, Iurii and Kapur, Navneet and Kasal, Alexandr and Khan, Murad and Kirtley, Olivia J. and Knipe, Duleeka and Kõlves, Kairi and Kölzer, Sarah C. and Krivda, Hryhorii and Leske, Stuart and Madeddu, Fabio and Marshall, Andrew and Memon, Anjum and Mittendorfer-Rutz, Ellenor and Nestadt, Paul and Neznanov, Nikolay and Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas and Nielsen, Emma and Nordentoft, Merete and Oberlerchner, Herwig and O'Connor, Rory C. and Papsdorf, Rainer and Partonen, Timo and Phillips, Michael R. and Platt, Steve and Portzky, Gwendolyn and Psota, Georg and Qin, Ping and Radeloff, Daniel and Reif, Andreas and Reif-Leonhard, Christine and Rezaeian, Mohsen and Román-Vázquez, Nayda and Roskar, Saska and Rozanov, Vsevolod and Sara, Grant and Scavacini, Karen and Schneider, Barbara and Semenova, Natalia and Sinyor, Mark and Tambuzzi, Stefano and Townsend, Ellen and Ueda, Michiko and Wasserman, Danuta and Webb, Roger T. and Winkler, Petr and Yip, Paul S.F. and Zalsman, Gil and Zoja, Riccardo and John, Ann and Spittal, Matthew J.}},
  issn         = {{2589-5370}},
  journal      = {{ECLINICALMEDICINE}},
  keywords     = {{Suicide,COVID-19,Pandemic,Monitoring}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{19}},
  title        = {{Suicide numbers during the first 9-15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with pre-existing trends : an interrupted time series analysis in 33 countries}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101573}},
  volume       = {{51}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}
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