Prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and suicide deaths in people living with HIV: Are there differences between geographic locations or sexes? : An overview of systematic reviews with meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

Preventing suicide is an important clinical and research priority according to the World Health Organization across lifespan.

OBJECTIVE

This study summarizes the prevalence of suicidal ideation, attempts, and suicide deaths among people living with HIV (PLWH) and explores geographic and sex-based differences in metaanalyses.

METHODS

An overview of systematic reviews was conducted using CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, and PubMed, covering inception to 16th August 2024.AMSTAR 2 evaluated methodological quality, and review overlap was calculated.

RESULTS

Twelve systematic reviews were included, with the highest overlap for suicide attempts in Africa (CCA = 13%). Meta-analyses showed pooled prevalence of suicidal ideation ranging from 13.8 to 22.1% in Africa, 27.1-30.1% in Asia, 33.7% in Europe, 14.3% in North America, and 27.5% in South America. Suicide attempts ranged from 3.7 to 12.5% in Africa, 3.6-11.2% in Asia, and 20.09% in the Americas. Among males, suicidal ideation prevalence was 40% in PLWH, suicide attempts 16.8%, and suicide deaths 1.5% PLWH. Among females, suicidal ideation was 32.8%, suicide attempts 29.0%, and suicide deaths 1.2% in PLWH.

CONCLUSION

Suicidal ideation and attempts are prevalent in PLWH, with notable geographic and sex-based differences.