[Relationship between traditional Chinese cultural beliefs and suicide risk among Chinese medical postgraduate students].

Abstract

Objectives: To study the relationship between traditional Chinese cultural beliefs and suicide risk in Chinese medical postgraduate students.

Methods: The Chinese Traditional Cultural Belief Scale (CTCBS) and Suicidal Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ-R) were used to investigate 541 medical postgraduate students in a medical university.

Results: The total score of traditional Chinese cultural belief of the medical postgraduate students was 49.68±6.85, and 66.9% of them had a clear cultural belief. The detection rate of suicide risk among the medical postgraduates was 15.7%, and 20.1% of them reported suicidal ideation within the past year. Traditional Chinese cultural belief was negatively correlated with suicide risk among the medical postgraduates (r=-0.210, P<0.001), and those with higher levels of cultural belief had lower SBQ-R scores (F=6.255, P<0.01). The medical postgraduates with lower cultural beliefs had a higher detection rate of suicide risk (28.6% vs 21.2% vs 12.7%). The students with high suicide risks had significantly lower total scores and all the dimension scores of CTCBS (P<0.001).

Conclusions: Most medical postgraduates have clear traditional Chinese cultural beliefs, which can be beneficial to reduce suicide risk among the students.