Causes of suicidal behaviors in men who have sex with men in China: a national questionnaire survey

BMC Public Health

Beichuan Zhang³  Lixin Wang¹  Yang Li²  Hongquan Chen¹ 

[1] Department of Dermatology, the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, No.16 Jiangsu Road, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China;Department of Dermatology, Qingdao Sanatorium of Shandong Province, No.16 Zhengyangguan Road, Qingdao 266071, Shandong, China;Sex Health Center, the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, No.16 Jiangsu Road, Qingdao 266003, Shandong, China

关键词: Questionnaire survey;    Risk factors;    Suicidal ideation;    Suicide behaviors;    MSM;   

Others  :  1131380
DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-015-1436-8

 received in 2014-11-20, accepted in 2015-01-15,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Background

Men who have sex with men (MSM) have become a high-risk group of HIV infection in China. To date, little is known regarding the psychological characteristics in Chinese MSM, especially the prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempts.

Methods

A questionnaire survey was conducted on 2,250 MSM recruited from gay bars in 9 large cities in mainland China. Data on the prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempts as well as the underlying causes in the respondents were analyzed.

Results

A total of 1530 MSM responded to the question regarding previous suicidal ideation and attempts. Of these respondents, 26.01% had ever considered suicide and 12.55% actually attempted suicide at least once. Romantic gay relationship breakup was the number one cause of suicide behaviors, followed by self-objection to homosexuality, difficulties in finding gay partners or in getting used to heterosexual marriage life, sudden emotional hurts from unexpected events, illegal status of gay marriage in China and disclosure of homosexuality.

Conclusions

The survey study has led to a better understanding of the factors contributing to suicide behaviors of MSM in China, which may have significant implications in developing preventive strategies against suicide behaviors in this unique group of individuals.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Chen et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

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