Suicidal Behaviors Prevalence Among Transgender Persons: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Context: Research in the United States has shown that nearly a third of transgender adults have engaged in suicidal thoughts or behaviors. The present research was designed to comprehensively estimate the prevalence of suicidal behaviors in transgender people. Methods: The current research is a systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of suicidal behaviors in transgender people. The technique of reporting the current research was based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) list. In September 2020, the investigators surveyed six international sites: EMBASE, Medline/PubMed, Google Scholar, ProQuest, ISI Web of Science, and Scopus. Results: The prevalence of suicide attempts in transgender people was 26.34% (95% CI for 22.54 - 30.13), and that of suicide ideation in these individuals was 44.26% (95% CI for 33.79 - 54.74). The results of the meta-regression of suicide attempts in recent years have shown a declining trend; nevertheless, this result was not statistically significant (P = 0.446). Conclusions: The prevalence of suicide attempts and suicide ideation in transgender persons is higher than in the overall population. However, this study showed that the prevalence of suicide attempts has been decreasing in recent years, and suicide ideation are increasing, but these findings were not significant, and more studies are needed to prove this issue.