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BACKGROUND: Adolescent suicidal behaviour is a neglected public health issue especially in middle- and low-income countries. Informed policy decision-making on suicidal behaviour will need reliable information on the prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation which is a determinant of suicidal behaviour. METHODS: We estimated the prevalence and associated factors of suicidal ideation among school-going adolescents using data from the Global School-Based Health Survey conducted in 2004 in Guyana. RESULTS: Of the 1197 respondents, 18.4% (14.9% males and 21.6% females)reported having seriously considered committing suicide in the last12 months. Males were less likely to seriously consider committingsuicide than females (OR = 0.45; 95% CI 0.30, 0.67). Subjects whoreported having been bullied were more than twice as likely tocontemplate committing suicide as those who had not been bullied (OR = 2.46 1.71, 3.54). History of depression was positivelyassociated with suicidal ideation (OR = 2.67; 95% 1.87, 3.81 whilehaving close friends and understanding parents were negativelyassociated with suicide ideation (OR = 0.51; 95% CI 0.28, 0.94 and OR = 0.51; 95% CI 0.35, 0.76 respectively). CONCLUSION: Suicidal ideation is a significant public health issue among in-school adolescents in Guyana that requires attention. The design, implementation and evaluation of suicidal behaviour interventions should incorporate our knowledge of these associated factors.
Rudatsikira et al. (Mon,) studied this question.