International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health | December 2021 | Vol 8 | Issue 12 Page 5751 International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Obarisiagbon OE et al. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2021 Dec;8(12):5751-5756 http://www.ijcmph.com pISSN 2394-6032 | eISSN 2394-6040 Original Research Article Assessment of knowledge and attitude towards suicidal ideation, and suicidal risk of adults in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria Otaniyenuwa E. Obarisiagbon*, Iwinosa E. Abu INTRODUCTION Suicide is a major cause of mortality, it accounts for an estimated 804,000 annual deaths worldwide. For every suicide, there are many more people who contemplate or attempt suicide. 1 Pesticide, hanging and firearms are among the most common means of suicide globally. Pesticides account for an estimated one-third of the world's suicides. 2 Women ‘prefer’ the means of lower effectiveness, like exsanguinations or abuse of hypnotics, while men tend to use more violent methods like firearms or jumping from a height. 3 Suicide research and prevention require accurate evaluation of suicide phenomena. Sound knowledge of and proper attitude to suicidal ideation promotes optimal suicide prevention outcomes. Approaches to suicide prevention may include restrictions to lethal weapons or substances and physician education to assess the suicidal risks of individuals. This would go a long way in reducing suicide deaths worldwide. 4 Communities play a critical role in suicide prevention by providing social support to vulnerable individuals, providing help in crises, engaging in follow-up care, fighting stigma and supporting those bereaved by suicide. World Suicide Prevention Day is celebrated on the 10 th of September every year. 3 METHODS A descriptive cross-sectional study design was utilized for this study and was carried out between June 2018 and December 2019. The study population were adults (18-60 years) residing at Ekosodin community, Ovia North East local government area (LGA) of Edo State. Ovia North East LGA is located in Edo South senatorial district with its headquarters in the town of Okada. The LGA has a population of 155,344 based on the 2006 national census, ABSTRACT Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 804,000 persons die annually from suicide. Suicidal ideation in adults results from a complex interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study among 450 adults in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select respondents. Data were obtained using pretested structured self- administered questionnaires which were adopted from the adult suicidal ideation questionnaire. Data analysis was by IBM statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 22.0, and the level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results: A total of 450 respondents participated in this study, mean age±standard deviation (SD)=23.7±5.3. One hundred and forty-six (66.4%) respondents had good knowledge of suicidal ideation and 207 (94.1%) had a positive attitude towards suicidal ideation. One-tenth of respondents were at risk of committing suicide. Conclusions: One-tenth of the respondents were at risk of committing suicide. The government and medical personnel need to put in concerted efforts to ensure that suicidal ideation among adults is promptly addressed. Keywords: Knowledge, Attitude, Suicide, Ideation, Risk Department of Community Health, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria Received: 13 October 2021 Accepted: 13 November 2021 *Correspondence: Dr. Otaniyenuwa E. Obarisiagbon, E-mail: otaniyenuwa.obarisiagbon@uniben.edu Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20214562