Dawes Nathan, Franklin Richard C
College of Public Health, Medical & Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
J Agromedicine. 2025 Jan;30(1):165-181. doi: 10.1080/1059924X.2024.2426500. Epub 2024 Nov 19.
Each year, over 700,000 people die by suicide worldwide, and far more attempt and are impacted by the outcome. Agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries in which to work; it is also exposed to a lot of external stressors, such as climatic conditions, market forces (both input and output) and government regulation, as well as internal such as employment and of staff, multiple skills required and isolation. These stressors contribute to the higher rate of farm suicide cases. While there is growing evidence of the protective circumstances (factors) that protect against suicide and suicidality, more needs to be done in the agricultural sector.
To review global literature and consolidate the current knowledge regarding protective factors against suicide and suicidality in agricultural communities and elucidate the implications of these findings.
A systematic scoping review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-Sc). A range of databases was searched for the terms "suicide*" or "suicidal behavior", "suicide attempt", or "suicidal ideation", or "suicidality", and "farm*" or 'agricultural worker*' or 'rancher*' and 'protective factors' or protect". Paper included had to be peer reviewed in English, include people living, working in or with agriculture or lived in an agricultural area.
Fourteen studies met the study criteria, predominately (72%) from the United States of America and Australia. Four (29%) articles discussed individual coping mechanisms and self-reliance as protective factors against suicide and suicidality, while six (43%) described the influence of social support and perceived sense of belonging on suicide risk. Five (36%) papers examined the association between health-promoting and suicide-prevention initiatives as protective factors in agricultural communities.
There is limited, however, growing literature about protective factors for the prevention of suicide in agriculture; however, it is skewed to high-income countries. This review demonstrates a link between the development of individual coping skills as a protective factor against suicide in agricultural communities, with a primary focus on farming occupations within this setting. Social support was found to help reduce suicide risk by increasing a sense of belonging. These need to be exploited to drive down suicide rates.
全球每年有超过70万人死于自杀，更多的人尝试自杀并受到自杀后果的影响。农业是最危险的工作行业之一；它还面临许多外部压力源，如气候条件、市场力量（投入和产出）、政府监管，以及内部压力源，如就业和员工情况、所需的多种技能和孤立状态。这些压力源导致农场自杀案例的发生率较高。虽然越来越多的证据表明存在预防自杀和自杀行为的保护情况（因素），但农业部门仍需做出更多努力。
回顾全球文献，整合当前关于农业社区预防自杀和自杀行为的保护因素的知识，并阐明这些研究结果的意义。
按照系统综述和Meta分析扩展版的首选报告项目（PRISMA-Sc）进行系统的范围综述。在一系列数据库中搜索“自杀*”或“自杀行为”、“自杀未遂”、“自杀意念”或“自杀倾向”，以及“农场*”或“农业工人*”或“牧场主*”和“保护因素”或“保护”等术语。纳入的论文必须是英文同行评审的，包括生活在农业地区、在农业领域工作或与农业相关的人员。
14项研究符合研究标准，主要（72%）来自美国和澳大利亚。4篇（29%）文章讨论了个人应对机制和自力更生作为预防自杀和自杀行为的保护因素，而6篇（43%）描述了社会支持和归属感对自杀风险的影响。5篇（36%）论文研究了促进健康和预防自杀举措之间的关联，将其作为农业社区的保护因素。
然而，关于农业领域预防自杀的保护因素的文献有限且不断增加；然而，这些文献偏向于高收入国家。本综述表明，个人应对技能的发展作为农业社区预防自杀的保护因素之间存在联系，主要关注该背景下的农业职业。研究发现社会支持通过增强归属感有助于降低自杀风险。需要利用这些因素来降低自杀率。
