RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Suicide is a global public health problem and Nigeria is one of the epicentres of suicide in the world. However, there is a dearth of research exploring the epidemiological aspects of suicide in Nigeria. AIM: To examine the demographic information and precipitating events for suicides in Nigeria by analysing the contents of newspaper reports of suicide. METHODS: We searched, collected, and analysed published news reports about suicide from 10 English newspapers in Nigeria. A total of 350 suicide reports were assessed between January 2010 and December 2019 after screening and sorting. RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of the reported cases was 36.33 (15.48) years. Majority of the reported cases were male (80.6%), married (51.8%), students (33.6%), living in a semi-urban area (40.3%) and among the age group of 25-34 (25.3%). Hanging (48.6%) and poisoning (32.2%) were the most commonly reported methods of suicide. Financial constraints and marital conflicts were most commonly assumed precipitating factors. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that being male, married, or living in semi-urban areas are associated with suicide in Nigeria. Further community-based studies are warranted to generalise the findings and adopt appropriate preventive strategies.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Sensible media reporting has been considered an important suicide prevention strategy which is an under-researched issue in Nigeria. There is a dearth of research assessing how the media has been reporting suicidal news to the general population in Nigeria. AIM: It was aimed to see the adherence of news reports to the World Health Organization (WHO) suicide reporting guidelines while reporting the events. METHODS: We searched the published contents of 10 English newspapers of Nigeria and assessed the adherence to the WHO media guidelines for reporting suicide from January 2010 to December 2019. RESULTS: Most of the reports (85.31%) mentioned completed suicides, 4.4% recorded suicides, and 9.5% recorded suicide-related homicides. The majority of the reports mentioned the name (85.6%) and profession (63.8%) of the person; the name of the method (92%) and life events (67.8%). The word 'suicide' was mentioned in the headline of 87.6% of the reports; the method was mentioned in the headline of 22.8% of the reports, and 31.7% of the reports referred to life events in the headline. Only 8.8% of reports had traced mental illness, 33.3% traced the warning signs, 2.8% mentioned evidence of substance abuse and very few reports mentioned educative materials. CONCLUSION: The study found that Nigeria's online newspapers are poorly adherent to the WHO media reporting guidelines. Explicit descriptions of the person, methods, life events, and mono-causal explanations were frequently published. Negligible initiatives have been found to educate the general people in the reports.