Are immigrants responsible for the recent decline in Australian suicide rates?

Kõlves, Kairi; Leo, Diego De

doi:10.1017/s2045796014000122

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(32 reference statements)

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“…This follows the previously observed disparity between suicide rates of first-generation migrants in Queensland, which are significantly lower than those of Australian-born persons [44]. Differences between the two groups was higher than reported in the analysis of deaths by suicide by Kolves and De Leo [44], which could be attributed to immigrants' reluctance to utilize mental-health services for suicide-related concerns [45]. Similarly, many Indigenous people experience significant barriers in accessing culturally appropriate support for mental health more broadly, and in particular for suicidality [46], which is believed to contribute to the 2.2-times higher suicide rate in Indigenous persons compared to non-Indigenous persons [47].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Overseas-born persons’ rate of suicidal presentation was about half of that observed for Australian-born people. This follows the previously observed disparity between suicide rates of first-generation migrants in Queensland, which are significantly lower than those of Australian-born persons [ 44 ]. Differences between the two groups was higher than reported in the analysis of deaths by suicide by Kolves and De Leo [ 44 ], which could be attributed to immigrants’ reluctance to utilize mental-health services for suicide-related concerns [ 45 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

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Suicidal Presentations to Emergency Departments in a Large Australian Public Health Service over 10 Years

Stapelberg

Sveticic

Hughes

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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This paper presents trends and characteristics for 32,094 suicidal presentations to two Emergency Departments (EDs) in a large health service in Australia across a 10-year period (2009–2018). Prevalence of annual suicidal presentations and for selected groups of consumers (by sex, age groups, and ethnicity) was determined from a machine learning diagnostic algorithm developed for this purpose and a Bayesian estimation approach. A linear increase in the number of suicidal presentations over 10 years was observed, which was 2.8-times higher than the increase noted in all ED presentations and 6.1-times higher than the increase in the population size. Females had higher presentation rates than males, particularly among younger age groups. The highest rates of presentations were by persons aged 15–24. Overseas-born persons had around half the rates of suicidal presentations than Australian-born persons, and Indigenous persons had 2.9-times higher rates than non-Indigenous persons. Of all presenters, 70.6% presented once, but 5.7% had five or more presentations. Seasonal distribution of presentations showed a peak at the end of spring and a decline in winter months. These findings can inform the allocation of health resources and guide the development of suicide prevention strategies for people presenting to hospitals in suicidal crisis.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Suicidal Presentations to Emergency Departments in a Large Australian Public Health Service over 10 Years

Stapelberg

Sveticic

Hughes

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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“…It has also been used in several studies to evaluate temporal trends in mortality rates, e.g., from various cancers and coronary heart disease (Rodriguez et al 2006; Qiu et al 2009). In recent years, it has been applied to psychiatric studies to evaluate time trends of suicide in several countries (Vichi et al 2010; Bando et al 2012; Kolves & De Leo, 2014). However, it has not really been utilised to explore the situation in Japan.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time trends in method-specific suicide rates in Japan, 1990–2011

Yoshioka

Hanley

Watanabe

et al. 2014

Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci

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“…Certain groups deserve special mention because they are at an even higher risk for suicide: the police, firefighters, and other first-line responders [ 40 ] as well as individuals in the army [ 41 , 42 ], incarcerated persons or those in high security hospitals (rates in men 7 times and in women 40 times higher than overall rates) [ 43 ], minorities [ 44 ], homeless people [ 45 ], refugees and asylum seekers [ 46 , 47 ]. Diverging results, however, arise from the literature on migrants: the suicide risk is said to increase [ 48 , 49 ], to remain stable [ 50 ], or to decrease [ 51 ] with migration, which may be related, among others, to the socioeconomic situation in the country of settlement [ 52 ]. A number of authors claim that ethnicity, country of origin as well as country of settlement influence suicide risk [ 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 ], not least because cultural differences between the countries may cause intergenerational as well as intrapsychic conflicts [ 55 ].…”

Section: Epidemiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Epidemiology of Suicide and the Psychiatric Perspective

Bachmann

2018

IJERPH

970

646

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Suicide is a worldwide phenomenon. This review is based on a literature search of the World Health Organization (WHO) databases and PubMed. According to the WHO, in 2015, about 800,000 suicides were documented worldwide, and globally 78% of all completed suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries. Overall, suicides account for 1.4% of premature deaths worldwide. Differences arise between regions and countries with respect to the age, gender, and socioeconomic status of the individual and the respective country, method of suicide, and access to health care. During the second and third decades of life, suicide is the second leading cause of death. Completed suicides are three times more common in males than females; for suicide attempts, an inverse ratio can be found. Suicide attempts are up to 30 times more common compared to suicides; they are however important predictors of repeated attempts as well as completed suicides. Overall, suicide rates vary among the sexes and across lifetimes, whereas methods differ according to countries. The most commonly used methods are hanging, self-poisoning with pesticides, and use of firearms. The majority of suicides worldwide are related to psychiatric diseases. Among those, depression, substance use, and psychosis constitute the most relevant risk factors, but also anxiety, personality-, eating- and trauma-related disorders as well as organic mental disorders significantly add to unnatural causes of death compared to the general population. Overall, the matter at hand is relatively complex and a significant amount of underreporting is likely to be present. Nevertheless, suicides can, at least partially, be prevented by restricting access to means of suicide, by training primary care physicians and health workers to identify people at risk as well as to assess and manage respective crises, provide adequate follow-up care and address the way this is reported by the media. Suicidality represents a major societal and health care problem; it thus should be given a high priority in many realms.

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Are immigrants responsible for the recent decline in Australian suicide rates?

Abstract: Significantly declining suicide rates of migrants have contributed to the declining in suicide trends in Queensland. Potential reasons for significantly lower suicide rates among young migrants might include the change in the nature of migration from involuntary to voluntary.

Cited by 11 publications

References 13 publications

Suicidal Presentations to Emergency Departments in a Large Australian Public Health Service over 10 Years

Suicidal Presentations to Emergency Departments in a Large Australian Public Health Service over 10 Years

Time trends in method-specific suicide rates in Japan, 1990–2011

Epidemiology of Suicide and the Psychiatric Perspective

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