Factors Related to Suicidal Ideation in Higher Education Institution Students

Abstract

Introduction: Suicidal ideation is a topic of great relevance in the health field, due to the serious affectations it entails, especially in young adults. Early identification of this phenomenon is crucial to implement preventive measures that can avoid serious outcomes.

Objective: To analyze the risk of suicidal ideation in undergraduate health and psychology students of a private university of higher education during the year 2023.

Methods: A cross-sectional and analytical study was carried out with stratified and equi-probabilistic sampling by academic program, using a sociodemographic questionnaire, PANSI scale and family apgar. A descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analysis was carried out to calculate odds ratio (OR) in logistic regression.

Results: 693 students participated. A 2.31% (16 students) were identified with high risk of suicidal ideation, while 38.82% (269 students) presented medium risk. Among the relevant factors, severe family dysfunction was found to have an OR of 7.73 (95% CI: 4.09; 14.61, p-value < 0.001). In addition, students with a history of self-harm showed an OR of 6.63 (95% CI: 3.80; 11.53, p-value < 0.001), and those who reported receiving specialized treatment by psychiatry presented an OR of 2.87 (95% CI: 1.68; 4.9, p-value < 0.001).

Conclusions: 41.13% of the students presented a high and medium risk of suicidal ideation. Family dysfunction, history of self-harm and the presence of psychiatric pathology were statistically significantly related to the risk of suicidal ideation.