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Demographics and risk factors for suicide in Syria: A retrospective media content analysis of online news sources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2024

Salma Almidani*
Affiliation:
Research for Health Systems Strengthening in Syria (R4HSSS) and the Centre for Conflict and Health Research (CCHR), Department of War Studies, King’s College London, London, UK Department of Primary Care, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
Mohammad Abo Hilal
Affiliation:
Syria Bright Future, Gaziantep, Turkey
Marwa Alghadban
Affiliation:
Syria Bright Future, Gaziantep, Turkey
Omama Abou Helal
Affiliation:
Syria Bright Future, Gaziantep, Turkey
Manal Alkourdi
Affiliation:
Syria Bright Future, Gaziantep, Turkey
Juman Kannan
Affiliation:
Syria Bright Future, Gaziantep, Turkey
Abdulkarim Ekzayez
Affiliation:
Research for Health Systems Strengthening in Syria (R4HSSS) and the Centre for Conflict and Health Research (CCHR), Department of War Studies, King’s College London, London, UK Syria Public Health Network, London, UK
Preeti Patel
Affiliation:
Research for Health Systems Strengthening in Syria (R4HSSS) and the Centre for Conflict and Health Research (CCHR), Department of War Studies, King’s College London, London, UK
Nassim El Achi
Affiliation:
Research for Health Systems Strengthening in Syria (R4HSSS) and the Centre for Conflict and Health Research (CCHR), Department of War Studies, King’s College London, London, UK
*
Corresponding author: Salma Almidani; Email: s.a.almidani@gmail.com
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Abstract

Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Syrians have faced violence and displacement causing an increase in mental health issues. The COVID-19 pandemic, the 2023 earthquake, and deteriorating living conditions have exacerbated these issues. Suicide in Syria remains an under-researched topic since accurate data are difficult to obtain. In this study, we aimed to explore the demographics and risk factors of suicide in Syria by performing a retrospective content analysis of selected online news (media) outlets from across Syria. Twelve news outlets from the three regions of Syria were selected and news of suicide cases were searched retrospectively. The age range was between 9 and 79 years old with the average age being 27.1 ± SD 5.9 years. The most reported causes of suicide were harsh living conditions (18.5%) and relationship problems (18.3%). The most common method of suicide was hanging followed by using firearms. More suicides occurred at night and in the summer and spring seasons. Based on our study’s results, young adult, male, unmarried, individuals in rural settings and northern governorates were at the highest risk of suicide in Syria. This study highlights the urgent need for mental health interventions that address the unique challenges faced by Syrians.

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Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Table 1. Distribution of demographic variables (n = 334)

Figure 1

Table 2. Distribution of suicide variables (n = 334)

Figure 2

Figure 1. Percentage of reported suicide cases in Syria by governorate.

Figure 3

Figure 2. Number of suicides reported in Syrian online news outlets by year.

Figure 4

Figure 3. Number of suicides reported in Syrian online media outlets by gender and month.

Author comment: Demographics and risk factors for suicide in Syria: A retrospective media content analysis of online news sources — R0/PR1

Comments

Dear Editors of Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health,

We wish to submit our manuscript, entitled ‘Risk factors for suicide in Syria: A retrospective content analysis of online media sources’, for consideration for publication in Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health. This study addresses a significant gap in the literature on suicide in Syria, a country that is still suffering with the consequences of one of the most dreadful conflicts of the century. Due to the lack of a suicide surveillance system in the country, along with the stigma and shame associated with suicide in the Syrian context, suicide is highly underreported and underresearched. Therefore, we aim in this study to explore the demographics and risk factors of suicide in Syria by performing a retrospective content analysis of selected publicly available online news (media) outlets from across Syria. We are using the same approach used by scholars in other settings that also lack reliable suicide surveillance systems or reporting such as Bangladesh and Nigeria. Note that such studies do not require ethical clearance as they are based on the analysis of publicly available data with no need for permission to access or use the data from the provider. The manuscript will be of interest to readers of the journal, as it presents evidence on a critical consequence of mental health issues at a time when researchers, universities, funders and policy-makers are increasingly interested in strengthening and investing in health systems and health research in areas affected by conflict. Such studies can pave the way for integrating mental health as part of health policies intended for health

systems strengthening in such contexts. We confirm that all authors have approved the manuscript for submission and that the content of the manuscript has not been published elsewhere. Furthermore, there are no competing interests to declare.

Thank you for taking the time to consider our submission.

Sincerely yours,

Salma A. Almidani & Mohammad Abo Hilal (joint first authors)

Marwa Alghadban

Omama Abou Helal

Manal Alkourdi

Juman Kannan

Abdulkarim Ekzayez

Preeti Patel

& Nassim El Achi

Recommendation: Demographics and risk factors for suicide in Syria: A retrospective media content analysis of online news sources — R0/PR2

Comments

General comments. It is an interesting investigation carried out in Syria. Although the method is interesting, it is important to highlight that not all suicides are reported by newspapers, so we are working with a biased sample and very limited information, all of which is a limitation of the study. It is suggested that the authors modify the title to specify that demography and risk factors are assessed from the media, but not online. Also, it is suggested that you please describe the effect of criminalization and media reporting, and the effect this has on the study. It is necessary to clarify why authors choose only online news outlets.

Specific comments:

- p.5 line 82 please add that this is the reported number (which we know is an under-reporting, including in highly religious countries such as Syria, an information which should also be added)

-p.8 what is the reason and need of these ‘variables’? i suggest to reconsider their inclusion. furthermore, the analytical process is not described.

- 'Displaced individuals made up only 7.2% of cases in addition to 3.9%

187 refugees living in camps while most cases were local residents 51.2%.': what made up the remaining 30%?

-’The most reported cause of suicide was harsh living conditions (18.5%) followed by relationship

191 problems (18.3%)." As we can assume that these labels were given by the authors, it would be useful to describe what they mean by such labels and provide some examples/quotes;

- the finding about children/teenagers being at higher risk should be further discussed and need for child/youth specific suicide prevention interventions (such as the mentioned reference Colucci et al. 2022) emphasized. The authors seem to suggest (e.g. line 242) that mental health interventions are the only way to prevent suicide whereas they should broaden the suggestion to include a variety of interventions, including suicide specific (see Colucci et al. 2022) and others included in LIVE LIFE by WHO.

- line 297 ‘the correlations found in this study’ perhaps associations? or descriptives?

- 311 risk and protective factors;

-the authors should not use the expression ‘committed’ as recommended in suicide research literature;

- Several in-text references are incorrect (e.g. Suicide, Suicide rates etc instead of the authors; sometimes full names are used instead of surnames etc, p. 7 line 182 the author is repeated twice) please check referencing style before resubmission.

Decision: Demographics and risk factors for suicide in Syria: A retrospective media content analysis of online news sources — R0/PR3

Comments

No accompanying comment.

Author comment: Demographics and risk factors for suicide in Syria: A retrospective media content analysis of online news sources — R1/PR4

Comments

Dear Editors of Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health,

We wish to submit our manuscript, entitled ‘Risk factors for suicide in Syria: A retrospective media content analysis of online news sources’, for consideration for publication in Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health. This study addresses a significant gap in the literature on suicide in Syria, a country that is still suffering with the consequences of one of the most dreadful conflicts of the century. Due to the lack of a suicide surveillance system in the country, along with the stigma and shame associated with suicide in the Syrian context, suicide is highly underreported and under-researched. Therefore, we aim in this study to explore the demographics and risk factors of suicide in Syria by performing a retrospective content analysis of selected online news (media) outlets from across Syria. We are using the same approach used by scholars in other settings that also lack reliable suicide surveillance systems or reporting such as Bangladesh and Nigeria.

The manuscript will be of interest to readers of the journal, as it presents evidence on a

critical consequence of mental health issues at a time when researchers, universities,

funders and policy-makers are increasingly interested in strengthening and investing in

health systems and health research in areas affected by conflict. Such studies can pave

the way for integrating mental health as part of health policies intended for health

systems strengthening in such contexts.

We confirm that all authors have approved the manuscript for submission and that the

content of the manuscript has not been published elsewhere, nor submitted for

publication elsewhere. Furthermore, there are no competing interests to declare.

Thank you for taking the time to consider our submission.

Sincerely yours,

Salma A. Almidani & Mohammad Abo Hilal (joint first authors)

Marwa Alghadban

Omama Abou Helal

Manal Alkourdi

Juman Kannanc

Abdulkarim Ekzayez

Preeti Patel

& Nassim El Achi

Recommendation: Demographics and risk factors for suicide in Syria: A retrospective media content analysis of online news sources — R1/PR5

Comments

The authors have made important corrections since the previous version and the manuscript is more robust today. It is certainly a good paper and should be published. Authors are only requested to make some minor changes:

1.- The paper assessed demography and risk factors from news papers while the title suggests to the risk factors only. Please change the title align it throughout the manuscript.

2.- review the following details within the manuscript and correct them:

- p. 12 line 3: Add reference (which I believe is just ‘idem’);

- p.16 l.12 I suggest to add religious leaders;

- consider moving Conclusion at the end;

A final proof-reading is required, e.g. p. 12 l.58 it should be ‘whereas’; p. 14 l22 ‘who works’; and commas before ‘which’.

Decision: Demographics and risk factors for suicide in Syria: A retrospective media content analysis of online news sources — R1/PR6

Comments

No accompanying comment.

Author comment: Demographics and risk factors for suicide in Syria: A retrospective media content analysis of online news sources — R2/PR7

Comments

Dear Editors of Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health,

We wish to submit our manuscript, entitled ‘Demographics and Risk factors for suicide in Syria: A retrospective media content analysis of online news sources ’, for consideration for publication in your journal. This study addresses a significant gap in the literature on suicide in Syria, a country that is still suffering with the consequences of one of the most dreadful conflicts of the century.

Due to the lack of a suicide surveillance system in the country, along with the stigma and shame associated with suicide in the Syrian context, suicide is highly underreported and underresearched. Therefore, we aim in this study to explore the demographics and risk

factors of suicide in Syria by performing a retrospective content analysis of selected online news (media) outlets from across Syria. We are using the same approach used by scholars in other settings that also lack reliable suicide surveillance systems or reporting

such as Bangladesh and Nigeria.

The manuscript will be of interest to readers of the journal, as it presents evidence on a critical consequence of mental health issues at a time when researchers, universities, funders and policy-makers are increasingly interested in strengthening and investing in

health systems and health research in areas affected by conflict. Such studies can pave the way for integrating mental health as part of health policies intended for health systems strengthening in such contexts.

We confirm that all authors have approved the manuscript for submission and that the content of the manuscript has not been published elsewhere, nor submitted for publication elsewhere. Furthermore, there are no competing interests to declare. Thank you for taking the time to consider our submission.

Sincerely yours,

Salma A. Almidani (corresponding author) & Mohammad Abo Hilal (joint first authors)

Marwa Alghadban

Omama Abou Helal

Manal Alkourdi

Juman Kannanc

Abdulkarim Ekzayez

Preeti Patel

&Nassim El Achi

Recommendation: Demographics and risk factors for suicide in Syria: A retrospective media content analysis of online news sources — R2/PR8

Comments

The authors made appropriate changes from the previous version and it is sufficient for it to be published.

Decision: Demographics and risk factors for suicide in Syria: A retrospective media content analysis of online news sources — R2/PR9

Comments

No accompanying comment.