Discipline of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
School of Arctic and Subarctic Studies, Labrador Campus, Memorial University, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Health Rep. 2022 Aug 18;33(8):31-38. doi: 10.25318/82-003-x202200800003-eng.
Globally, the suicide rate is two times higher for males than for females. Previous studies in Newfoundland and Labrador did not examine age-specific rates by sex. The objectives of this study were to determine suicide rates by sex and age group and to compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of males and females who died by suicide.
This observational study analyzed a routinely collected dataset based on all medical examiner-determined suicide deaths among people aged 10 years and older in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, between 1997 and 2016. Age-standardized and age-specific suicide rates and rate ratios were calculated based on the number of deaths during the period, and descriptive statistics were used to compare demographic and clinical characteristics between males and females.
The age-standardized suicide rate was 4.6 times higher among males than females and was higher for males in most age groups. Rates were highest in the young adult age groups for males (20 to 24 years) and females (35 to 39 years). Males who died by suicide were more likely to be from a rural community and to have died by firearm; females were more likely to die by self-poisoning and to have had a mental illness or substance use history.
The results are broadly consistent with previous research, though this is the first study to report age-specific suicide rates among females across the life course in Newfoundland and Labrador. The results underscore the need to design public health and clinical interventions that account for sex differences in suicide risks.
全球范围内，男性自杀率是女性的两倍。此前在纽芬兰和拉布拉多进行的研究并未按性别分析特定年龄段的自杀率。本研究旨在确定不同性别和年龄组的自杀率，并比较男性和女性自杀者的人口统计学和临床特征。
本观察性研究分析了加拿大纽芬兰和拉布拉多省在 1997 年至 2016 年间，所有由法医确定的 10 岁及以上人群自杀死亡的常规数据集。根据期间的死亡人数计算了标准化和特定年龄的自杀率和率比，并使用描述性统计数据比较了男性和女性的人口统计学和临床特征。
男性的标准化自杀率是女性的 4.6 倍，而且大多数年龄组中男性的自杀率都更高。男性的自杀率在年轻成年组（20 至 24 岁）和女性（35 至 39 岁）中最高。自杀身亡的男性更可能来自农村社区，并且死于枪支；而女性更可能死于自杀、患有精神疾病或有药物滥用史。
结果与之前的研究基本一致，尽管这是第一项报告纽芬兰和拉布拉多省女性一生中特定年龄段自杀率的研究。这些结果强调需要设计公共卫生和临床干预措施，以考虑到自杀风险中的性别差异。
