The prevalence of suicidal thoughts among medical students of Islamic Azad University, Kerman branch in the academic year 2021-2022

Subject Areas :

Mohammad Ali Khazayi ¹ , Shrareh Kharazmi ²

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Received: 2025-09-20 Accepted : 2025-10-12 Published : 2025-09-13

Keywords: Suicidal ideation, prevalence of suicide, related factors, medical students.,

Abstract :

Suicide among university students is undoubtedly an important issue and understanding its underlying risk factors may provide a suitable solution to prevent this ominous phenomenon. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and the related risk factors among medical students of Azad Kerman University in 2021. In a cross-sectional survey study, medical students were included in the study. The prevalence of suicidal ideation was assessed by using the Standard Beck Scale for suicidal ideation (BSSI) questionnaire and its association was evaluated with subject variables including age, gender, educational levels, place of residence, marital status, religiosity level, history of psychiatric diseases in family members, smoking and previous psychiatric visiting. The collected data were analyzed using t-test, chi-square, and unconditional binary logistic regression. 101 medical students participated in this study. Their average age was 22.90 ± 2.66 years and most of them (61.4%) were women. The prevalence of suicidal ideation among them was estimated at 39.6%. Furthermore, people who are younger or had a previous psychiatric consultation showed a higher prevalence of suicidal ideation. Based on the obtained results, the prevalence of suicidal ideation in the studied sample of medical students is relatively high. Also, the results of the analysis showed that people who are younger or had a history of previous psychiatric consultation had higher scores of suicidal ideations. Therefore, medical students with such characterizations should be given more attention in the planning of suicide prevention.

 

Keywords: Medical students, Prevalence of suicide, Related factors, Suicidal ideation.

 

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