Parker Robert, Ben-Tovim David I
Northern Territory Clinical School, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Science, Flinders University, Parap NT.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2002 Jun;36(3):404-10. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-1614.2001.01032.x.
A recent increase in suicide among the Tiwi people of Bathurst and Melville Islands in the Northern Territory led to a review of recent suicides in the Top End of the Northern Territory using the coroner's records. The aim of the review was to establish through the coronial files whether there were any significant differences in the factors that related to suicide in Aboriginal people and other people in the Top End.
Coronial determinations of suicide in the Top End for the years 1991-1998 were examined using a structured coding instrument.
Hanging was a prominent method of suicide among Aboriginal people. Aboriginals who committed suicide were more likely to have a history of self-harm behaviour. Suicide among Aboriginal people was irregular in distribution with a higher general risk for Aboriginal people resident in the east Arnhem region. A recent rise in suicide in the Tiwi community occurred against a background of social disruption similar to that which occurred against suicides in the Aboriginal population of the Kimberley region in Western Australia.
There are some important differences in the factors attributed to suicide in the Aboriginal and other populations in the Top End. Furthermore, our study highlights regional differences in suicide risk among different Aboriginal populations in the Top End.
北领地巴瑟斯特岛和梅尔维尔岛的提维人自杀率近期有所上升，为此利用验尸官记录对北领地顶端地区近期的自杀情况进行了审查。审查的目的是通过验尸档案确定北领地顶端地区原住民与其他人群自杀相关因素是否存在显著差异。
使用结构化编码工具对1991年至1998年北领地顶端地区验尸官判定的自杀案例进行审查。
上吊是原住民中一种突出的自杀方式。自杀的原住民更有可能有自残行为史。原住民自杀分布不均衡，居住在东阿纳姆地区的原住民总体风险更高。提维社区近期自杀率上升，其背景是社会动荡，类似于西澳大利亚金伯利地区原住民自杀时出现的情况。
北领地顶端地区原住民和其他人群自杀相关因素存在一些重要差异。此外，我们的研究突出了北领地顶端地区不同原住民群体自杀风险的区域差异。
