Coping strategies,mental health and hiv status: Predictors of suicidal behaviour among PWIDs

Objective: to understand suicidal behaviour among people who inject drugs. methods: this correlational,cross-sectional study was conducted in two pakistani cities of gujrat and jhelum from october 2015 to march 2016,and comprised male injecting-drug users aged18-60 years. multistage systematic random sampling method was used. urdu-translated versions of the brief cope inventory,mental health status scale and suicidal behaviour questionnaire (revised) were administered. spss 16 was used for data analysis. results: of the 200 participants,83(41.5%) were aged 26-32 years. the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus was in 94(47%) cases. suicidal behaviour was positively associated with psychological distress and human immunodeficiency virus status (p<0.05),whereas it was negatively associated with mental health,psychological well-being and coping strategies (p<0.05). regression analysis showed mental health index and psychological well-being were negative predictors,whereas psychological distress and human immunodeficiency virus status were positive predictors of suicidal behaviour among the participants (p<0.05). conclusion: the level of stress led people who inject drugs towards suicidal behaviour. however,the level of stress varied according to the severity of human immunodeficiency virus and poor mental health. © 2017,pakistan medical association. all rights reserved.