Deakin University
Browse

Attributable risk of suicide for populations in Australia

Version 2 2024-06-15, 02:32
Version 1 2024-01-30, 04:58
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-15, 02:32 authored by P Bandara, A Page, L Reifels, K Krysinska, K Andriessen, M Schlichthorst, A Flego, LKD Le, Cathy MihalopoulosCathy Mihalopoulos, J Pirkis
ObjectiveEach year approximately 3,000 Australians die by suicide. We estimated the population attributable risk for identified target populations to provide evidence on how much of the overall burden of suicide in the Australian population is experienced by each of them.MethodsWe identified 17 demographic and clinical target populations at risk of suicide and calculated the population attributable fraction (PAF) using a single or pooled suicide risk and the proportional representation of each target population within Australia.ResultsLarge PAF estimates were found for men (52%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 51%–53%), people bereaved by suicide (35%, 95% CI 14%–64%), people with a mental health or behavioural condition (33%, 95%CI 17%–48%), people with a chronic physical condition (27%, 95%CI 18%–35%), adults aged 25–64 years (13%, 95%CI 12%–14%), LGB populations (9%, 95%CI 6%–13%), offenders (9%, 95%CI 8%–10%), and people employed in blue collar occupations (8%, 95%CI 4%–12%).LimitationsThe PAF is limited by assumptions, namely, that risk factors are independent, and that the relationship between risk factors and outcomes are unidirectional and constant through time.Conclusions and implications for public healthConsiderable reductions in the overall suicide rate in Australia may occur if risk factors are addressed in identified populations with large PAF estimates. These estimates should be considered as an adjunct to other important inputs into suicide prevention policy priorities.

History

Journal

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Volume

14

Article number

1285542

Pagination

1-7

Location

Lausanne, Switzerland

ISSN

1664-0640

eISSN

1664-0640

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Publisher

Frontiers Media

Usage metrics

    Research Publications

    Licence

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC