Relationship Between Adoption and Suicide Attempts: A Meta-analysis

Abstract

Context: Several investigations have shown that people in an adoption situation have a higher frequency of mental problems or disorders than the general population. However, no known meta-analysis consolidates information about the association between the adoption situation and suicide attempt. Objectives: We aimed to systematically evaluate the primary observational studies that quantified the association between the being adopted and suicide attempt. Methods: A systematic review was designed that used a logical strategy based on specific descriptors in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, in combination with the Boolean operators (AND, OR). The search was performed on the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, Health Virtual Library, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, PsycArticles, BioMed Central, and Sage Journal. Articles were included until December 2018. The quality of the studies was evaluated with a tool based on the STROBE criteria. Results: Six studies met the inclusion criteria. Three studies used case-control designs and the remaining three were cohort studies. Case-control studies computed 69 suicide attempts in 1,216 adopted people compared to 436 attempts amidst 20,555 non-adopted people (OR = 2.30, 95% CI 1.24 - 4.28, I2 = 61%). Cohort studies computed 536 suicide attempts among 36,965 people in adoption compared to 15,112 attempts in 3,118,069 non-adopted people (RR = 2.99, 95% CI 2.54 - 3.53, I2 = 73%). Conclusions: The adoption situation can increase suicide attempts; it predicts at least two times more cases of suicide attempts among adopted people than in the general population.