Suicide attempts among Taiwanese lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults during the 2018 Taiwan referendum on same-sex issues.
Ya-Ching Wang, Shiow-Ru Chang, Nae-Fang Miao
PMID 34806821WHAT IT FOUND
12.6% of 1012 Taiwanese LGBT adults surveyed during the 2018 referendum period reported a suicide attempt in the previous year.
Nurses can ask about suicide risk, especially in transgender adults and those with mental health issues, no income, or depressive symptoms.
Key findings
01Among transgender participants, 22 of 89 reported a suicide attempt in the preceding year.
02In multivariate analysis, identifying as transgender, having no income, having a mental health issue, and higher depressive symptoms were associated with increased odds of attempted suicide, while higher self-esteem was associated with reduced odds.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show whether the factors and suicide attempts occurred before one another or caused one another. Participants were recruited through online and snowball sampling, not random sampling, so the sample may not represent all Taiwanese LGBT adults. 692 of 1012 participants were aged 20 to 29 years, so results may not apply to older adults. The transgender group was small, with 90 participants, so its estimates may be less stable. Heterosexual adults were not included, so the study could not compare suicide attempts between LGBT and heterosexual adults. 401 of 1481 respondents were excluded for incomplete responses, and suicide attempts and mental health diagnoses were self-reported.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the referendum caused suicide attempts or that transgender identity, no income, mental health issues, or depressive symptoms caused suicide attempts. The survey was cross-sectional and online, so it measured associations at one time point among respondents who chose to complete it.