Factors associated with not seeking professional help or disclosing intent prior to suicide: a study of medical examiners' records in Nova Scotia.
Can J Psychiatry
; 56(7): 436-40, 2011 Jul.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21835107
ABSTRACT
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 (χ(2) = 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.
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Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Suicide
/
Mental Health Services
Type of study:
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Can J Psychiatry
Year:
2011
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: