ArticleLancet regional health. Americas2022
Police-reported suicides during the first 16 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador: A time-series analysis of trends and risk factors until June 2021.
Article in Lancet regional health. Americas, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Suicide rates before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2024Pooled it
- Suicide before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Suicidal Thoughts and Self-Harm Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Kingdom: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Population-Based Survey Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Relationship Between Substance Use and Suicide Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Random-Effects Proportions Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Psychometric properties of the Beck Hopelessness Scale in Ecuadorian older adults: a comparative analysis of one-factor, two-factor, and three-factor models.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Temporal evolution of suicide by levels of rurality and deprivation among Japanese adults aged 20 years or over between 2009 and 2022.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2024Article
- The burden of suicide across different altitudes: 11-year geodemographic analysis conducted in 221 cantons in Ecuador ranging from 0 to 4300 m of elevation.BJPsych open · 2024Article
- The impact of the first year of COVID-19 pandemic on suicides in a collection of 27 EU-related countries.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The Impact of COVID-19 on Suicidal Behavior in King Abdulaziz Medical City in Saudi Arabia.Cureus · 2024Article
- [A cross-sectional study of suicide attempt reports in Colombia during the covid-19 pandemic].Revista de salud publica (Bogota, Colombia) · 2023Article
- Has the COVID-19 pandemic influenced suicide rates differentially according to socioeconomic indices and ethnicity? More evidence is needed globally.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: There are widespread concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic may increase suicides. Few studies have analysed effects beyond the pandemic's early months or examined changes in known suicide risk factors. Methods: Using time series models fit with Poisson regression, we analysed monthly police-reported suicides in Ecuador from January 2015 to June 2021. Treating March 2020 as the start of the pandemic, we calculated rate ratios (RRs) comparing the observed to the expected number of suicides for the total population and by age and sex groups. We investigated changes in risk factors, precipitants, geographic distribution, and suicide methods. Findings: There was no evidence that suicide rates were higher than expected during the pandemic (RR 0·97 [95% CI 0·92-1·02]). There was some evidence of fewer than expected male suicides (RR 0·95 [95% CI 0·90-1·00]). The proportion of suicides occurring in urban and coastal areas increased but decreased amongst indigenous and other minorities. The proportions of suicides with evidence of alcohol consumption, disability, and amongst married and cohabiting individuals decreased, whereas suicides where mental health problems were considered contributory increased. There were relative increases in the proportion of suicides by hanging but decreases in self-poisoning and other suicide methods. Interpretation: The pandemic did not appear to adversely impact overall suicide numbers nationwide during the first 16 months of the pandemic. Reduced alcohol consumption may have contributed to the decline in male suicides. Funding: None.
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