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Original article
Attempted suicide among adolescents in Mexico: prevalence and associated factors at the national level
  1. Rosario Valdez-Santiago1,
  2. Elisa Hidalgo Solórzano1,
  3. Mariana Mojarro Iñiguez1,
  4. Leticia Ávila Burgos1,
  5. Hugo Gómez Hernández1,
  6. Ángela Martínez González2
  1. 1 National Institute of Public Health, Health Systems Research Centre, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
  2. 2 Red Mundial de Suicidologos, Ciudad de México, Mexico
  1. Correspondence to Dra. Rosario Valdez-Santiago, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Av. Universidad 655 Col. Santa María Ahuacatitlán, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62100, Mexico; rosario.valdez{at}insp.mx

Abstract

Objective To determine the prevalence and associated factors of attempted suicide (AS) in a sample of Mexican adolescents between 10 and 19 years of age.

Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted with data from the 2012 National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT 2012 by its initials in Spanish). Based on multi-stage stratified probability sampling, ENSANUT 2012 canvassed 50 528 households including 21 519 adolescents. A logistic regression model was used to identify the factors associated with AS. The model was selected based on the maximum likelihood test.

Results Lifetime prevalence of AS amounted to 2.7% and was heterogeneously distributed across Mexico. Women showed significantly higher risk for AS than men (ORA(adjusted OR)) 6.3, 95% confidence interval CI 4.94 to 8.06), and individuals who experienced damage to health caused by violence over the last 12 months were 4.35 times (ORA 4.35, 95% CI 3.27 to 5.80) more likely to engage in AS than those who did not. The likelihood of engaging in AS was 1.5 times higher (ORA1.5 (95% CI 1.12 to 2.01)) among subjects with mild and 4.22 times higher (95% CI 3.21 to 5.54) among subjects with moderate eating disorders compared to those with no eating disorders. Other AS-associated factors included age, smoking, consuming alcohol and living with relatives other than parents.

Conclusions Awareness of the risk factors associated with AS can help identify the populations who are exposed to injury or death by suicide. This can orient the actions of the health sector towards those who are most vulnerable. Actions must be matched by more qualitative and quantitative research on the subject.

  • Attempted suicide
  • adolescent population
  • Mexico

https://doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2016-042197

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors RVS: receiver of the information of 2012 National Health and Nutrition Survey, collaborated in the design and execution of the analysis, in the writing of the introduction, results and conclusions of the present work. Responsible for submitting the manuscript to the scientific journal. EHS: preparation of the method component, search and bibliographic review to design, plan and execute the data analysis, drafting and analysis of the results. MMI: information processing, search and bibliographic review for the design, planning and execution of data analysis, drafting, presentation and analysis of results. LAB: preparation of the method component, search and bibliographic review to design, plan and execute the data analysis, drafting and analysis of the results. HGH: collaborated in the writing of the introduction and conclusions of the work. Responsible for submitting the manuscript to the scientific journal. AMG: collaborated in the writing of the introduction and conclusions of the present work.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Ethics approval By the Ethics Committee of the National Institute of Public Health

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.