Objective: To record the prevalence of suicidal ideation in the transgender population and assess the relationship of depression with the suicidal ideation.
Study design: Cross-sectional study.
Methodology: The study group comprised of 156 transgender people of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Suicidal ideation was assessed by the scale for suicide ideation (SSI). Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAM-D) was used to look for the presence and severity of depression among the target population. Relationship of the age, smoking, family income, illicit substance use, and depression was studied with the presence of suicidal intent among these transgender population of twin cities.
Results: One hundred and fifty-six transgender people were included in this study. Mean age of the study participants was 39.26 ±4.28 years. Out of them, 89 (57.1%) had no suicidal ideations, while 67 (42.9%) had suicidal ideation. Fifty-seven (36.5%) did not showed depression, while 99 (63.5%) had depression on HAM-D. With binary logistic regression, depression and illicit substance were found to be significantly related to the presence of suicidal ideations in the target population (p <0.05).
Conclusion: A high prevalence of suicidal ideation among the transgender population of twin cities was found in this study. Depression, illicit substance use, and other mental health illnesses should be screened routinely on this high risk population for early recognition and treatment.