Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention, 176 Messines Ridge Road, Mount Gravatt Campus, Griffith University, Mount Gravatt 4122 Queensland, Australia.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2011 Jul;45(7):532-8. doi: 10.3109/00048674.2011.570310. Epub 2011 Mar 31.
Suicide among Indigenous Australians is a well-recognized public health issue. Due to scarcity of epidemiological investigations in this area the exact size of this problem and its main characteristics remain uncertain. In this paper we present trends and methods of Indigenous suicides based on the Queensland Suicide Register for the period 1994-2007.
Trends of age-standardized suicide rates were calculated for Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. Suicide methods were compared between the two groups, with particular focus on hanging. Discriminant analysis was used to ascertain the size of under-estimation of suicide rates due to a considerable number of cases with unknown ethnicity in the Queensland Suicide Register.
Between 1994 and 2007, Indigenous populations had suicide rates 2.2 times higher than non-Indigenous Australians. Age-specific suicide rates for Indigenous men were highest in the 25-34 age group, while in women they were highest among 15-24 year olds. In children younger than 15 years, Indigenous suicide rate was almost ten times higher than of non-Indigenous counterparts. More than 90% of Indigenous suicides occurred by hanging. It was estimated that lack of information about ethnicity for 7% of suicide cases might have caused an under-estimation of Indigenous suicide mortality for 15.4% in men and 9.1% in women in the period 1994-2007.
Suicide mortality of Indigenous Australians has reached alarming levels, particularly among youths. The unique profile of Indigenous suicides indicates the need for specifically tailored preventative programmes.
澳大利亚原住民的自杀问题是一个众所周知的公共卫生问题。由于该地区缺乏流行病学调查，因此确切的问题规模及其主要特征仍不确定。在本文中，我们根据昆士兰州自杀登记处 1994-2007 年的数据，介绍了原住民自杀的趋势和方法。
为原住民和非原住民人口计算了年龄标准化自杀率的趋势。比较了两组之间的自杀方法，特别是在悬挂方面。判别分析用于确定由于昆士兰州自杀登记处中大量未知种族的案例而导致自杀率低估的程度。
1994 年至 2007 年间，原住民的自杀率是澳大利亚非原住民的 2.2 倍。原住民男性的特定年龄自杀率在 25-34 岁年龄组中最高，而女性的自杀率在 15-24 岁年龄组中最高。在 15 岁以下的儿童中，原住民的自杀率几乎是非原住民的十倍。超过 90%的原住民自杀是通过上吊完成的。据估计，在 1994-2007 年期间，由于 7%的自杀案例缺乏有关种族的信息，男性自杀死亡率可能低估了 15.4%，女性自杀死亡率可能低估了 9.1%。
澳大利亚原住民的自杀死亡率已达到令人震惊的水平，尤其是在年轻人中。原住民自杀的独特特征表明需要制定专门针对该人群的预防计划。
