RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The Asian population is growing rapidly in New Zealand and is expected to overtake Maori and Pacific population groups by 2038. Although there has been research on suicide in elderly Asian people in New Zealand, there is relatively little knowledge regarding suicide within Asian young people. AIMS: To describe the characteristics and prevalence of suicide among Asian young people aged 10-24 years between 2002 and 2017. METHODS: A retrospective review of all child and adolescent suicide deaths in New Zealand was conducted using a national database. RESULTS: Results include a pattern of increasing deaths with increasing age, with 87.5% over the age of 16 years, and two-thirds of deaths occurring in the Auckland region. The majority of Asian young people who died by suicide were born outside of New Zealand (80.7%), consistent with the fact that the majority (77%) of the Asian population in New Zealand were born overseas. However, deaths tended to decrease with longer duration of residence in New Zealand. That certain methods of suicide were more prominent among Asian young people has important implications for suicide prevention. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, there has been no significant change in the rates of suicide between 2002 and 2017. Young Asian people who die by suicide come from heterogeneous cultural and linguistic traditions, so prevention strategies need to be culturally responsive and delivered across multiple settings, including education, primary care and mental health services. However, certain methods are more common in many Asian countries, such as jumping from a height. We found this method was more commonly used by Asian young people compared with NZ Europeans, which should be a consideration in town planning, particularly in areas where there is a significant Asian population as part of a multilevel approach to suicide prevention.