Demography and Risk Factors of Suicide in Bangladesh: A Six-Month Paper Content Analysis

BACKGROUND: Suicide is a global public health problem too often neglected by researchers and Bangladesh is not an exception. There is no suicide surveillance and nationwide study is yet to be conducted in the country. OBJECTIVES: This paper aimed to look into suicide based on newspaper reporting in Bangladesh focusing on the demographic variables and risk factors. METHODS: 6 national newspapers were scrutinized from November 2016 to April 2017. Data were checked, cross-checked, and then analyzed with SPSS software. RESULTS: In a duration of six months, a total of 271 cases were reported; age was found to be in the range of 11–70 years (26.67 ± 13.47). 61% of the reported cases were below 30 years of age, 58% were female, 24% were students, 17% were house makers, 61% were from rural background, and 45% were married. Hanging was found to be the commonest method (82.29%); marital and familial discord remained a noticeable risk factor (34.32%). Family members and neighbors noticed 103 cases, and only 3 cases were found to have suicide notes. CONCLUSION: Suicide is an underattended public health problem in Bangladesh with few researches and paucity of literature. Establishment of national suicide surveillance is now a time demanded step.