1324 prison suicides in 10 countries in South America: incidence, relative risks, and ecological factors.

PURPOSE: Although suicide rates of prison populations and incidence factors have been reported for high-income countries, data from low- and middle-income regions are lacking. The purpose of the study was to estimate suicide rates among prison populations in South America, to examine prison-related factors, and to compare suicide rates between prison and general populations. METHODS: In this observational study, we collected the numbers of suicides in prison, rates of prison occupancy, and incarceration rates from primary sources in South America between 2000 and 2017. We compared suicide rates among prisoners with incidence rates in the general populations by calculating incidence rate ratios. We assessed the effect of gender, year, incarceration rates and occupancy on suicide rates in the prison populations using regression analyses. RESULTS: There were 1324 suicides reported during 4,437,591 person years of imprisonment between 2000 and 2017 in 10 South American countries. The mean suicide rate was 40 (95% CI 16-65) per 100,000 person years for male and female genders combined. The pooled incidence rate ratio of suicide between prison and general populations was 3.9 (95% CI 3.1-5.1) for both genders combined, 2.4 (95% CI 1.9-3.1) for men and a higher ratio in women (13.5, 95% CI 6.9-26.9). High occupancies of prisons were associated with lower incidence of suicide (ß = - 58, 95% CI - 108.5 to - 7.1). CONCLUSIONS: Suicides during imprisonment in South America are an important public health problem. Suicide prevention strategies need to target prison populations.

Clinical utility of depression measures and symptoms: Implications for suicide risk assessment in high risk, resource limited youth populations.

OBJECTIVE: Suicide risk for youth in resource- limited settings has been largely underrepresented in the literature and requires targeted examination of practical ways to address this growing public health concern. The present study focuses on the clinical utility of depression risk assessment tools addressing how and for whom suicide prevention intervention is most beneficial within a low-middle-income-country, high suicide risk youth sample. METHODS: Youth who reported a previous suicide attempt versus those who did not were criterion to test the validity of depression and hopelessness symptom assessment tools. We used item analyses to identify depressive symptom endorsements that most informed youth suicide risk, which will better equip rural practitioners for targeted intervention and monitoring of youth with an already high risk for suicide. RESULTS: Findings demonstrated that practitioners may target symptoms of social anhedonia, depressed mood, concentration disturbance, feelings of worthlessness, sleep disturbance, and fatigue for suicide prevention-intervention efforts among high-risk youth. CONCLUSIONS: Study implications are for clinicians' use of the BDI-II and CES-D for depression symptom identification and suicide risk monitoring in settings with limited mental health infrastructure.