Abstract:
Background: Diabetes is a highly prevalent non-communicable disease which is prone to more psychiatric
complications like suicide; however, research into this area is limited. Assessing suicidal plan and attempt as well as
its determinants are therefore important.
Method: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted from May 21 to June 21 at the diabetic outpatient
clinic by recruiting 421 participants using systematic sampling. Suicide manual of the composite international
diagnostic interview (CIDI) was used to assess suicidal plan and attempt. Chart review was used to obtain data
regarding the co-morbidity of medical illness and complications of diabetes mellitus. Binary logistic regression was
used to identify factors associated with suicidal attempt. Odds ratio with 95% CI was employed and variables with a
p-value of< 0.05 in multivariable logistic regression were declared significant.
Results: From 423 participants 421 participated in the study with 99.5% response rate. The mean age (±SD) of the
respondents was 38.0((±13.9) years. The lifetime prevalence of Suicidal plan; an attempt was found to be 10.7
and 7.6% respectively. Being female (AOR = 2.14, 95%CI:1.10,5.65), poor social support (AOR = 3.21,95%CI:1.26,8.98),
comorbid depression (AOR = 6.40,95%CI:2.56,15.46) and poor glycemic control (AOR = 4.38,95%CI:1.66,9.59) were
factors associated with lifetime suicidal attempt.
Conclusion: The prevalence of suicidal attempt among Diabetes patients is high (7.6%). The suicidal attempt had a
statistically significant association with female gender, comorbidity with depression, poor social support and poor
glycemic control. Therefore the result of this study helps to do early screening, treatment, and referral of patients
with suicidal attempt.
