Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE.
Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2012 Nov;58(6):652-6. doi: 10.1177/0020764011430038. Epub 2011 Dec 13.
Reports on suicide from the Gulf region are scarce. Dubai is a city with a large expatriate population. However, total and gender-specific suicide rates for the national and expatriate populations are not known.
To investigate total and gender-specific suicide rates in the national and expatriate population in Dubai and to elicit socio-demographic characteristics of suicide victims.
Registered suicides in Dubai from 2003 to 2009, and aggregated socio-demographic data of suicide victims were analysed. Suicide rates per 100,000 population were calculated.
Suicide rate among expatriates (6.3/100,000) was seven times higher than the rate among the nationals (0.9/100,000). In both groups, male suicide rate was more than three times higher than the female rate. Approximately three out of four expatriate suicides were committed by Indians. The majority of suicide victims were male, older than 30 years, expatriate, single and employed, with an education of secondary school level and below.
Further research on risk factors for and protective factors against suicide, particularly among the expatriate population, is needed. Epidemiological monitoring of suicide trends at the national level and improvement of UAE suicide statistics would provide useful information for developing suicide prevention strategies.
有关海湾地区自杀的报告很少。迪拜是一个拥有大量外籍人口的城市。然而，全国和外籍人口的总自杀率和性别特异性自杀率尚不清楚。
调查迪拜全国和外籍人口的总自杀率和性别特异性自杀率，并得出自杀者的社会人口学特征。
分析了 2003 年至 2009 年迪拜的登记自杀事件，并汇总了自杀受害者的社会人口学数据。计算了每 10 万人的自杀率。
外籍人士（6.3/10 万）的自杀率是国民（0.9/10 万）的七倍。在这两个群体中，男性自杀率均高于女性自杀率的三倍以上。大约四分之三的外籍人士自杀是由印度人实施的。大多数自杀受害者是男性，年龄在 30 岁以上，是外籍人士，单身且有工作，教育程度为中学及以下。
需要进一步研究自杀的风险因素和保护因素，特别是在外籍人士中。对全国范围内自杀趋势进行流行病学监测，并改进阿联酋的自杀统计数据，将为制定自杀预防策略提供有用信息。
