Social support and suicidality during the COVID-19 pandemic among Brazilian healthcare workers: a longitudinal assessment of an online repeated cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Objective: The risk of suicide is higher among health care workers than other workers. This study investigated the association between social support and suicidal ideation and behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic among Brazilian health care workers.

Methods: This study used data from 10,885 respondents to the first (time point 1 - between May and June of 2020) and second (time point 2 - between December 2020 and February 2021) cross-sectional online surveys about mental health and quality of life among Brazilian health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The relationship between social support as the independent variable (time point 1) and suicidal ideation and behavior as the outcomes (time point 2) was investigated through logistic regression analysis.

Results: Greater social support was associated with a significantly lower risk of reporting suicidal ideation and behavior in the month prior to follow-up assessment (adjusted OR: 0.71, 95%CI 0.66-0.76 and adjusted OR 0.61, 95%CI 0.54-0.68, respectively). These associations were independent of sex, age, feelings of loneliness, and self-reported psychiatric disorders.

Conclusion: Social support is associated with a lower risk of suicidality among health care workers, and its protective role appears more closely related to suicidal behavior.

Keywords: COVID-19; healthcare workers; pandemic; social support; suicide.

Figure 1. Logistic regression analysis with suicidal ideation and behavior as the outcome and the odds ratio for each predictor. All covariates are entered simultaneously as predictors. MOS-SSS = Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.