Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 19:15:703-711.
doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S358187. eCollection 2022.

Suicide and Suicide Attempts Among Patients Attending Primary Health Care Facilities in Uganda: A Medical Records Review

Mark Mohan Kaggwa  1   2 , Godfrey Zari Rukundo  1   2 , Edith K Wakida  2   3   4 , Samuel Maling  1 , Baker Makaya Sserumaga  1   2 , Letizia Maria Atim  1   2 , Celestino Obua  5
Affiliations

Suicide and Suicide Attempts Among Patients Attending Primary Health Care Facilities in Uganda: A Medical Records Review

Mark Mohan Kaggwa et al. Risk Manag Healthc Policy. .

Abstract

Background: Suicide is one of the leading causes of death globally, accounting for about 800,000 deaths annually. The suicide burden drastically increased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Uganda, no known study has determined the suicide rate since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: To determine the suicide mortality rate and describe the characteristics of victims of suicide attempts from January to December 2020 in south western Uganda.

Methods: This study was based on the health management information systems (HMIS) of patients' registered data for the year 2020 at 15 selected primary health care facilities in four districts in south-western Uganda. We used a data extraction tool to capture demographic and clinical characteristics of the individuals who had attempted or completed suicide. We estimated yearly incidence rates of fatal and non-fatal suicide attempts, and used chi-square and t-test to determine the statistical difference between suicide attempt outcomes.

Results: A total of 130 non-fatal suicide attempts and 26 suicides were identified. Majority were male 69.87% (n = 109/156) and the mean age was 27.16 (SD = 14.71) years. The overall incidence of suicide attempts was about 60 attempts per 100,000 people, while that of completed suicide was about three deaths per 100,000 people. The suicide attempts increased following the first month of COVID-19 lockdown in the country (March 2020) and most individuals attempted suicide by poisoning (n = 144).

Conclusion: Suicide is a common occurrence in primary health care settings of Uganda and there has been a rapid increase in suicide attempts since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. With suicide by poisoning being common, there is need for proactive interventions, such as the control of pesticides and herbicides, to prevent suicide among members of this community, especially during pandemic conditions.

Keywords: COVID-19; Uganda; non-fatal suicide attempt; pandemic; primary health care; suicide; suicide attempt.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest for this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Trends of suicide activities/behaviours during the year of 2020 in south western Uganda (n = 156).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. One in 100 deaths is by suicide - WHO guidance to help the world reach the target of reducing suicide rate by 1/3 by 2030. Available from: https://www.who.int/news/item/17-06-2021-one-in-100-deaths-is-by-suicide. Accessed April 8, 2020.
    1. Piscopo KD. Suicidality and death by suicide among middle-aged adults in the United States. Edited by Rockville. Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: The CBHSQ Report; 2017. Available from: https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/report_3370/ShortReport-.... Accessed April 8, 2020. - PubMed
    1. Acharya B, Subedi K, Acharya P, Ghimire S. Association between COVID-19 pandemic and the suicide rates in Nepal. PLoS One. 2022;17(1):e0262958. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0262958 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Koda M, Harada N, Eguchi A, Nomura S, Ishida Y. Reasons for suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(1):e2145870–e2145870. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.45870 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lee Y, Lui LMW, Brietzke E, et al. Comparing mortality from covid-19 to mortality due to overdose: a micromort analysis. J Affect Disord. 2022;296:514–521. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.09.059 - DOI - PMC - PubMed