Attitudinal Beliefs about Suicide among Medical Residents and Medical Students: A First Study Conducted in Paraguay
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53732/rccsalud/2024.e6702Keywords:
suicide, attitude, medical students, medical residents, mental healthAbstract
Introduction. The mental health of physicians and medical students has been studied extensively in Paraguay. However, no studies have focused on the attitudes or beliefs that this group holds about suicide. Objective. To identify and characterize beliefs about suicide among medical students and residents of the National University of Asunción. Additionally, it aimed to analyze whether there were differences in attitudes according to the level of training and to explore possible associations with sociodemographic factors. Materials and Method. This cross-sectional observational descriptive-analytical study used a convenience sampling method. The sample included 174 participants who completed a validated questionnaire on their suicidal beliefs. Data analysis was performed using SPSS, employing descriptive statistic, as well as chi-squared and Cramér's V tests. Results. 72.4% of the participants had favorable attitudes toward suicide; medical residents showed more positive beliefs about suicide than students. No associations were found between attitudes and variables such as gender or personal experience with suicide. Conclusion. Variations in beliefs about suicide were found according to educational level, suggesting that clinical exposure might influence empathetic attitudes. These findings highlight the need to consider the educational context and professional experience when designing interventions to promote compassionate attitudes about suicide in healthcare settings.
References
Piili RP, Metsänoja R, Hinkka H, Kellokumpu-Lehtinen PI, Lehto JT. Changes in attitudes towards hastened death among Finnish physicians over the past sixteen years. BMC Med Ethics. 2018;19(1):40. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-018-0290-5.
Wang Y, Liu L, Xu H. Alarm bells ring: suicide among Chinese physicians: A STROBE compliant study. Medicine (Baltimore). 2017;96(32):e7790. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000007790.
Gold KJ, Sen A, Schwenk TL. Details on suicide among US physicians: data from the National Violent Death Reporting System. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2013;35(1):45-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2012.08.005.
Eneroth M, Gustafsson Sendén M, Løvseth LT, Schenck-Gustafsson K, Fridner A. A comparison of risk and protective factors related to suicide ideation among residents and specialists in academic medicine. BMC Public Health. 2014;4:271. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-271.
Gerada C. Doctors, suicide and mental illness. BJPsych Bull. 2018;42(4):165-168. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2018.11.
Barrios I, Torales J. Salud mental y calidad de vida autopercibida en estudiantes de medicina de Paraguay. Rev Cient Cienc Méd. 2017;20(1):5-10. http://www.scielo.org.bo/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1817-74332017000100002
Rodríguez Castro AI, Rios-González CM. Frecuencia de depresión en estudiantes de medicina de la Universidad Nacional de Caaguazú, 2017. Med. clín. soc. 2019;2(3):128-35. https://doi.org/10.52379/mcs.v2i3.60.
Denis-Rodríguez E, Barradas Alarcón ME, Delgadillo-Castillo R, Denis-Rodríguez PB, Melo-Santiesteban G. Prevalencia de la ideación suicida en estudiantes de Medicina en Latinoamérica: un meta análisis. RIDE Rev Iberoam Para Investig El Desarro Educ. 2017;8(15):387-418. https://doi.org/10.23913/ride.v8i15.304.
Barrios I, Miltos V, Piris A, Piris G, Ramírez C, Rodríguez J, et al. Tamizaje de salud mental mediante el test M.I.N.I. en estudiantes del ciclo básico de medicina de la Universidad Nacional de Asunción. An. Fac. Cienc. Méd. (Asunción).;2015;48(1):59-68. https://doi.org/10.18004/anales/2015.048(01)59-068.
Torales J, Barrios I, Samudio A, Samudio M. Apoyo social autopercibido en estudiantes de medicina de la Universidad Nacional de Asunción (Paraguay). Educ. Médica. 2017;19(3):313-317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edumed.2017.07.001.
Barrios I, Piris A, Torales J, Viola L. Autoestima en estudiantes de medicina de la Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay. An. Fac. Cienc. Méd. (Asunción);2016;49(2):27-31. https://doi.org/10.18004/anales/2016.049(02)27-032.
Rojas-Melgarejo J, Mereles-Oviedo F, Barrios I, Torales J. Síndrome de Burnout en estudiantes de medicina de Santa Rosa del Aguaray. Med. clín. soc. 2017;1(1):26-30. https://doi.org/10.52379/mcs.v1i1.8.
Torales J, Barrios I. Diseño de investigaciones: algoritmo de clasificación y características esenciales. Med. clín. soc. 2023;7(3):210-235. https://doi.org/10.52379/mcs.v7i3.349.
Ruiz Hernández JA, Navarro-Ruiz JMa, Torrente Hernández G, Rodríguez González A. Construcción de un cuestionario de creencias actitudinales sobre el comportamiento suicida: el CCCS-18. Psicothema. 2005;17(4):684-690. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/727/72717424.pdf
Desuque DA, Vargas Rubilar J, Lemos VN. Análisis psicométrico del cuestionario de creencias actitudinales sobre el comportamiento suicida en población adolescente en Entre Ríos, Argentina. liber. v. 2011;17(2):187-198. http://www.scielo.org.pe/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1729-48272011000200008
Muñoz Navarro SR. ¿Cuántos sujetos necesito para mi estudio?. Medwave. 2014;14(6):e5995. https://doi.org/10.5867/medwave.2014.06.5995.
Nebhinani N, Chahal S, Jagtiani A, Nebhinani M, Gupta R. Medical students' attitude toward suicide attempters. Ind Psychiatry J. 2016;25(1):17-22. https://doi.org/10.4103/0972-6748.196050.
Hashimoto K, Sugawara N, Tanaka O, Nakamura K, Yasui-Furukori N. Parental bonding and attitudes toward suicide among medical college students in Japan. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2014;10:2015-2020. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S70818.
Sethi S, Shipra U. Attitudes of clinicians in emergency room towards suicide. Int J Psychiatry Clin Pract. 2006;10(3):182-185. https://doi.org/10.1080/13651500600633543
Kumar N, Rajendra R, Majgi SM, Krishna M, Keenan P, Jones S. Attitudes of General Hospital Staff Toward Patients Who Self-harm in South India: A Cross-Sectional Study. Indian J Psychol Med. 2016;38(6):547-552. https://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.194920
Samuel A, Cervero RM, Durning SJ. Gender and Racial Representation Trends Among Internal Medicine Department Chairs from 2010-2020. J Gen Intern Med. 2023;38(4):898-904. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-022-07783-z.
Mackenzie CS, Visperas A, Ogrodniczuk JS, Oliffe JL, Nurmi MA. Age and sex differences in self-stigma and public stigma concerning depression and suicide in men. Stigma and Health 2019;4(2):233-241. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000138.
Rocha G do P, Araújo GM de, Ávila LA. Attitudes of doctors and medical students toward patients with suicidal ideation. Rev Bioét. 2020;28(2):344-355. https://doi.org/10.1590/1983-80422020282396.
Na K-S, Oh K-S, Lim S-W, Ryu S-H, Lee J-Y, Hong JP, et al. Association between age and attitudes toward suicide. The European Journal of Psychiatry. 2018;32(1):44-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpsy.2017.08.007.
Yuncar-Fajardo D, Gutiérrez-Crespo HF, Matzumura-Kasano JP. Creencias actitudinales sobre el comportamiento suicida en profesionales de salud del área de emergencias en un hospital público de Lima, Perú. Med. clín. soc. 2023;7(1):34-40. https://doi.org/10.52379/mcs.v7i1.271.
Pitman A, Nesse H, Morant N, Azorina V, Stevenson F, King M, et al. Attitudes to suicide following the suicide of a friend or relative: A qualitative study of the views of 429 young bereaved adults in the UK. BMC Psychiatry. 2017;17:400. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1560-3.
.png)
All the contents of this journal are licensed under a 