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. 2022 Oct 19;19(20):13502.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph192013502.

Suicide Risk in Military Personnel during the COVID-19 Health Emergency in a Peruvian Region: A Cross-Sectional Study

Mario J Valladares-Garrido  1   2 , Cinthia Karina Picón-Reátegui  3 , J Pierre Zila-Velasque  4   5 , Pamela Grados-Espinoza  4   5 , Cristian M Hinostroza-Zarate  4 , Virgilio E Failoc-Rojas  6 , César Johan Pereira-Victorio  7
Affiliations

Suicide Risk in Military Personnel during the COVID-19 Health Emergency in a Peruvian Region: A Cross-Sectional Study

Mario J Valladares-Garrido et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Military personnel represent a frontline group exposed to multiple stressors. These factors have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, predisposing to the development of suicidal risk (SR). Given the few studies conducted in this population, we evaluated the prevalence of SR and its associated factors during the health emergency. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted in person among 514 participants in Lambayeque, Peru in 2021. The outcome was SR, and the exposures were depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), PTSD (PCL-C), and other sociodemographic variables. The prevalence of SR was 14.0% (95% CI: 11.12-17.31%) and was significantly higher in people with a family history of mental health (PR: 2.16; 95% CI: 1.13-4.15) and in those with moderate clinical insomnia (PR: 2.21; 95% CI: 1.19-4.12). Military personnel with high resilience had a lower prevalence of SR (PR: 0.54, CI: 0.31-0.95). Anxiety was associated with a higher prevalence of SR (PR: 3.27; 95% CI: 1.76-6.10). Our findings show that at least 1 out of 10 military personnel are at risk of suicide. Special attention should be paid to the associated factors to develop interventions and reverse their consequences. These results may be useful in policy implementation and general statistics of SR in the local and regional context.

Keywords: COVID-19; mental health; post-traumatic stress disorder; public health; sleep quality; suicide risk.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequency of responses according to each item of the Plutchik suicide risk scale.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Estimates plot of the factors associated with suicidal risk in multiple regression analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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