Prevalence of Suicidal Tendencies among Medical Students of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences and its Links with Alcohol Consumption

Aim of the study: to assess prevalence of suicidal tendencies among medical students of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LUHS) and its links with alcohol consumption. Objectives: 1. to determine prevalence of alcohol consumption among medical students of the LUHS; 2. to determine prevalence of suicidal tendencies among medical students of the LUHS; 3. to assess links between suicidal tendencies and alcohol consumption and 4. to analyse links between suicidal tendencies and sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: The study was carried out using the cross-sectional anonymous survey technique. The questionnaire created by the authors (gender, course of study, mental disorders in medical records and alcohol consumption peculiarities were assessed) and the Lithuanian version of the Attitudes towards Suicide Scale were used for the survey. The statistical analysis of the examined data was carried out using MS Excel 2003 and the statistical package SPSS 21.0. The relation between variables was assessed using the Chi-square (χ2) criterion. The results are statistically significant, where p