The patterns, trends and major risk factors of suicide among Indian adolescents—A scoping review protocol

Abstract

Introduction Suicide is one of the serious health problems among Indian adolescents. Adolescence helps with the transition of an individual into an adult, so it is important to understand the suicidal behavior of adolescents. Several studies have been carried out in different states in India on the suicidal behavior of adolescents, but there is no review that studied the national patterns, trends, and major risk factors. Therefore, this review aims to study the patterns, trends, and major risk factors of suicidal behavior among Indian adolescents. Methods The study will be conducted as per the Arksey and O’Malley scoping review framework and the Joanna Briggs institute Reviewers’ manual. The Population, Concept and Context strategy (PCC) will ensure the review questions, eligibility criteria and search strategy. The Systematic Review and Meta-analysis: Extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) will be used for the findings of the study of Scoping Review. The literature search will be done using electronic databases: PubMed, Google Scholar, SCOPUS, EMBASE, Psycinfo, Web of Science, Google, and Cochrane library by specific keywords such as “patterns”; “suicide”; “trends”; “risk factors”; “depression”; “anxiety”; “mental health”; “adolescent”; “teenager”; and “youth”;” India” etc. Additional studies will be considered using cross-references. Ethics and dissemination This study does not involve the collection of primary data; there is no requirement of any ethical approval. Strengths and limitations of the study The proposed scoping review is the first study on patterns, trends, and major risk factors of adolescent suicide in India as per the information available on the online platforms. This proposed scoping review will bring together all the previously available data into one place for better study. This evidence-based study will be highly helpful for healthcare professionals and policymakers. This study will be limited to English language and electronically available evidence.