Suicidal Ideation and Associated Factors Among COVID-19 Infected and Non-Infected People

Abstract

Suicide is a serious global public health problem and the greatest cause of mortality for people aged 15 to 29 (WHO, 2019). Suicidal ideation is an idea or concept that can lead to suicide plans or attempts. Consequently, understanding the present occurrences of suicide, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behaviour disorder is becoming increasingly important in the context of the COVID pandemic. The novel coronavirus illness (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that developed in Wuhan, China, in 2019 and has caused over 522 million infections and over 6.2 million deaths (WHO, 2022). The World Health Organization (WHO) designated this contagious illness as a pandemic on March 11, 2020, naming it COVID-19. This illness had a significant and disruptive influence not just on worldwide health but also on socioeconomic standing, educational programs, and mental health. COVID-19 has resulted in an upsurge in suicide rates around the world due to its social, psychological, and economic effects. Comparing COVID infected and COVID non-infected people have been selected for aiding this research so that the findings could contribute to the development of novel suicide prevention techniques. In addition, socio-demographic and psychological aspects and the association between socio-demographic and psychological components were investigated. To better understand the contemporary suicidal phenomenon, the relationship between the psychological components revealed by diagnostic instruments has also been examined. The research was conducted using a cross-sectional survey design employing the purposive and snowball sampling techniques to choose the sample population. A couple of research assistants have been tasked with recruiting 656 participants. Finally, 634 data have been entered into the SPSS software after the incomplete data have been reduced. Result showed that younger male COVID non-infected subjects had greater suicide thoughts than older female COVID infected participants. COVID-infected participants suffer from lower levels of psychological well-being and higher level of depression than COVID non-infected participants. There is no difference in psychological distress between these two population categories. The findings of binary logistic regression analysis showed that all predictors (participant Status, gender, age, educational qualification, socioeconomic status, marital status, type of residence, presence of co-morbid diseases, types of co-morbid diseases, well- being, and depression) were statistically significant (χ 2 (5, N = 634) = 140.312, p<.001) indicating that the model can differentiate between respondents who reported and did not report suicidal ideation. After adjusting for all other characteristics in the model, respondents without COVID infection are 2.95 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts. When controlling for other variables, male respondents were 0.558 times less likely to have suicidal thoughts. After accounting for other factors, younger respondents were 0.405 times less likely to have suicidal thoughts. Considering other variables, those with co-morbid diseases were 0.344 times less likely to have suicidal thoughts. Poor well-being was positively associated with a 1.07 odds ratio for suicidal ideation after controlling other variables. After adjusting for all characteristics, depressed respondents were 1.078% more likely to have suicidal thoughts. For COVID non-infected participants, there was a tangible link between well- being and suicidal ideation. For both the total number of participants and COVID infected participants, there was no strong association between well-being and suicidal ideation. For total COVID infected and COVID non-infected participants, psychological distress is substantially associated with suicidal ideation. Survivors of life-threatening illnesses during the pandemic may feel hopeful. Additionally, the infection may change psychological symptoms. Early pandemic survivors may be better prepared to handle mental health issues. The outcomes of the study have prompted some novel ideas and perspectives. We can infer from this result that various socio-demographic factors impact suicidal ideation.