Factors associated with not seeking professional help or disclosing intent prior to suicide: a study of medical examiners' records in Nova Scotia
| Autor: | Stephen Kisely, Leslie Anne Campbell, Lois A. Jackson, Jennifer Cartwright, Matthew J Bowes |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2011 |
| Předmět: |
Nova scotia
Adult Male Mental Health Services medicine.medical_specialty Poison control Suicide prevention Occupational safety and health Coroner Bias Injury prevention medicine Humans Psychiatry Aged business.industry Medical examiner Human factors and ergonomics Middle Aged Psychiatry and Mental health Suicide Nova Scotia Family medicine Female business Coroners and Medical Examiners |
| Zdroj: | ResearcherID Scopus-Elsevier |
| ISSN: | 1497-0015 |
| Popis: | Objective: Individual-level data from clinical settings lack information on people who did not seek professional help prior to suicide. We used records of the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service (NSMES) to compare people who had contact with a health professional prior to suicide with those who did not. Method: We linked data from the NSMES to routine administrative data of the province. Results: The NSMES recorded 108 suicides in Nova Scotia from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2006; there were 90 male and 18 female suicide deaths. Mean and median age at death were 44.73 (SD 13.33) and 44 years, respectively. Patients aged 40 to 49 years made up one-third of the cases ( n = 35) and this was the decade of life with the highest number of suicides. This was also the group least likely to have suicidal intent recorded in the NSMES files (χ2 = 3.86, df = 1, P = 0.05). Otherwise, there were no significant differences between people who sought help, or disclosed intent, prior to suicide and people who did not. The samples in all cases were predominately male and single. Conclusions: People aged 40 to 49 years were the age group with the highest absolute number of suicides, but were the least likely to have suicidal intent recorded in the NSMES files. This finding merits further investigation. Medical examiner or coroner data may provide additional information not obtained elsewhere for the surveillance of suicide. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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