Prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicidal attempt and completed suicide in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

BACKGROUND: Suicide is an emergency psychiatric problem that needs an urgent intervention. Ethiopia, as a nation, has been experiencing high burden of suicide. Cultural taboo, stigma, and criticism associated with suicidal behaviors affect the communities’ attitude and practice toward suicide and its help-seeking behaviors. Thus, this systematic review and meta-analysis will provide the pooled prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicidal attempt, and completed suicide in Ethiopia. METHODS: This review protocol is designed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P 2015 Guidelines). Studies reporting the prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicidal attempt, and completed suicide will be included from the databases of PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, SCOPUS, EMBASE, and Web of Sciences. The reference lists of retrieved articles, Google Scholar, and national health database reporting suicide will be also searched. No time and language restrictions will be imposed on the search strategy. The methodological quality of included studies will be assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool. The heterogeneity between studies will be measured by the index of heterogeneity (I(2) statistics) test. Funnel plots and Egger’s test will be used to determine publication bias. Moreover, subgroup and sensitivity analyses will be carried out. The pooled prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicidal attempt, and completed suicide will be calculated by metaprop command using random effects model with the Dersimonian and Laird method. DISCUSSION: This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to explore the available epidemiological evidences about suicidal ideation, suicidal attempt, and completed suicide. The final results of this review will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at conferences. The review of the results will help to raise awareness about the burden of suicidal ideation, suicidal attempt, and completed suicide in Ethiopia. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42018112836