Decriminalizing suicide attempt in the 21st century: an examination of suicide rates in countries that penalize suicide, a critical review

作者：Bob Lew, David Lester, Feisul Idzwan Mustapha, Paul Yip, Ying‐Yeh Chen, Ravivarma Rao Panirselvam, Astrid Sinarti Hassan, Serena In, Lai Fong Chan, Norhayati Ibrahim, Caryn Mei Hsien Chan, Ching Sin Siau · 发表于：BMC Psychiatry · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1186/s12888-022-04060-5 · 被引用次数：54 · 研究领域：Suicide and Self-Harm Studies、Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse、Forensic Entomology and Diptera Studies

BACKGROUND: Decriminalizing suicide may decrease overall suicide rates because then individuals who are at risk of suicide would be more willing to seek help from the community and from mental health professionals, therefore enabling early interventions for preventing suicidality. We aimed to examine the suicide trends over the last 20 years in 20 countries that still criminalize attempted suicide, and to compare the suicide rates of these 20 countries against the global average suicide rate and to a comparison sample of 20 countries that do not criminalize suicide, matched according to region and majority religion. METHODS: Age-standardized suicide rates were extracted from the WHO Global Health Estimates, available for the period 2000-2019. Population data were extracted from the World Bank. We analyzed only countries which criminalize attempted suicide under its criminal justice system. Countries were further categorized according to their membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and countries in Africa. Countries from the same region and with the same majority religion were chosen as a matching group. Joinpoint analysis was used to compare the trends of the two groups with the global average. RESULTS: Based on the 2019 WHO Global Health Estimates data, there is a large range in the suicide rates of the countries that criminalize attempted suicide, from 2.5 (Brunei) to 40.9 (Guyana) per 100,000 population. The mean suicide rate was 8.3 (Standard Deviation = 10.6). Out of ...