Suicide Notes: A Scoping Review of Qualitative Studies to Highlight Methodological Opportunities for Prevention

Suicide is a public health concern, and prevention programs are fundamental to decreasing its rates. Suicide notes might be crucial to understanding motives associated with suicidal behaviours. In this way, it is necessary to understand the qualitative methods that are most frequently used to analyze this data. Investigating these factors is crucial for developing targeted and preventive interventions. This scoping review aimed to answer the question “What is the state of art about qualitative methods adopted to analyze suicide notes?” by systematically mapping the literature on this topic. This review adopted the JBI guidelines for Scoping Reviews and followed the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. A comprehensive search strategy has been implemented across PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Grey literature was not included in this review. Eligible studies encompassed qualitative studies on suicide notes published in English. Two independent researchers screened titles and abstracts and subsequently conducted full-text assessments based on predefined inclusion criteria. Relevant data have been systematically extracted and tabulated. The findings were thematically organized and qualitatively summarized, with potential visual aids such as graphs and tables. The studies highlighted the most used qualitative methods to analyze suicide notes, such as LIWC, Leenar’s, Grounded Theory, Thematic Analysis and others. This study summarizes the current knowledge about qualitative methods to analyze suicide notes. Further research is necessary for the development of prevention programs destined for this population.