di Giacomo E, et al. - The researchers carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the risk of attempted suicide among adolescents of sexual minority, distinguishing each sexual minority group. According to the findings obtained, youths with nonheterosexual identity have a significantly higher risk of life-threatening behavior than their heterosexual peers. They suggested that public awareness is important, and careful assessment of support strategies (eg, support programs, counseling, and destigmatizing efforts) should be part of education and public health planning.

Methods

• For this investigation, researchers searched electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO) for articles published through April 30, 2017, with the following search terms: heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, adolescents, teens, and attempted suicide.
• They involved studies that reported attempted suicide in sexual minority adolescents compared with heterosexual peers.
• Of 764 records identified, 35 studies satisfied criteria for inclusion.
• Pooled analyses were based on odds ratios (ORs), with relevant 95% CIs, weighting each study with inverse variance models with random effects.
• Through univariable and multivariable meta-regressions, risk of publication bias and analysis of heterogeneity were also rated.
• Main outcome and measure included the assessment of increased odds of attempted suicide among sexual minority youths compared with heterosexual peers.

Results

• In 22 articles, 35 studies included a total of 2,378,987 heterosexuals and 113,468 sexual minority adolescents (12 - 20 years of age).
• It was observed that sexual minority youths were generally at higher risk of attempted suicide (OR, 3.50; 95% CI, 2.98-4.12; c² = 3074.01; P < .001; I² = 99%).
• The OR was 3.71 in the homosexual group (95% CI, 3.15-4.37; c² = 825.20; P < .001; I² = 97%) and 4.87 in the bisexual group (95% CI, 4.76-4.98; c² = 980.02; P < .001; I² = 98%) if estimated in each sexual minority group.
• Transgender youths were described as an individual group in only 1 study, which reported an OR of 5.87 (95% CI, 3.51-9.82).
• Meta-regressions weighted for the study weight highlighted that the presence of young participants (12 years old) was correlated with heterogeneity in the bisexual group.
• On the other hand, the year of sampling was related to heterogeneity in the whole group when combined with other covariates.