Does Ethnicity Matter in Risk and Protective Factors for Suicide Attempts and Suicide Lethality?

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2017 Apr 21

PMID 28426687

Citations 19

Authors

Carol C Choo

Keith M Harris

Peter K H Chew

Roger C Ho

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

This study explored ethnic differences in risk and protective factors for suicide attempts, for the major ethnic groups in Singapore, and ethnic differences in prediction of lethality. Three years of medical records related to suicide attempters (N = 666) who were admitted to the emergency department of a large teaching hospital in Singapore were subjected to analysis. Of the sample, 69.2% were female, 30.8% male; 63.8% Chinese, 15.8% Indian, and 15.0% Malay. Indians were over-represented in this sample, as compared with the ethnic distribution in the general population. Ages ranged from 10 to 85 years old (M = 29.7, SD = 16.1). Ethnic differences were found in risk and protective factors, and perceived lethality of suicide attempts. All available variables were subjected to regression analyses for Chinese, Indian and Malay attempters to arrive at parsimonious models for prediction of perceived lethality. The findings were discussed in regards to implications in assessment of suicide risk and primary prevention for the multiethnic society in Singapore.

Citing Articles

Affiliation to a Social Group as a Preventive Factor in Suicidal Behaviors in Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Grzejszczak J, Strzelecki D, Gabryelska A, Kotlicka-Antczak M Children (Basel). 2023; 10(2).

PMID: 36832461 PMC: 9955561. DOI: 10.3390/children10020333.

Self-reported sleep and exercise patterns in patients admitted with suicidal attempts: a cross-sectional comparative study.

Siddiqui M, Al-Amin H, Rabeh M, Meedany M, Hamdi Y, Ghuloum S BMC Psychiatry. 2022; 22(1):326.

PMID: 35534838 PMC: 9082909. DOI: 10.1186/s12888-022-03929-9.

A Smartphone App for Attentional Bias Retraining in Smokers: Mixed Methods Pilot Study.

Choo C, Tan Y, Zhang M JMIR Form Res. 2022; 6(1):e22582.

PMID: 34982037 PMC: 8764608. DOI: 10.2196/22582.

Religious Coping, Depression and Anxiety among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Malaysian Perspective.

Chow S, Francis B, Ng Y, Naim N, Beh H, Azizah Ariffin M Healthcare (Basel). 2021; 9(1).

PMID: 33467744 PMC: 7831030. DOI: 10.3390/healthcare9010079.

Suicide Attempts Among French and Brazilian Adolescents Admitted to an Emergency Room. A Comparative Study of Risk and Protective Factors.

Rufino N, Mirkovic B, Consoli A, Pellerin H, Santos J, Fidalgo T Front Psychiatry. 2020; 11:742.

PMID: 32848921 PMC: 7424044. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00742.

References

Peng K, Choo A . Suicide and parasuicide in Singapore (1986). Med Sci Law. 1990; 30(3):225-33. DOI: 10.1177/002580249003000311. View

Goldney R, Spence N . Is suicide predictable?. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1987; 21(1):3-4. DOI: 10.1080/00048678709160893. View

Leung C, Kwok S, Ling C . An Integrated Model of Suicidal Ideation in Transcultural Populations of Chinese Adolescents. Community Ment Health J. 2015; 52(5):574-81. DOI: 10.1007/s10597-015-9920-2. View

Langlois S, Morrison P . Suicide deaths and suicide attempts. Health Rep. 2003; 13(2):9-22. View

Chen Y, Wu K, Yousuf S, Yip P . Suicide in Asia: opportunities and challenges. Epidemiol Rev. 2011; 34:129-44. DOI: 10.1093/epirev/mxr025. View

Beck A, Steer R . Clinical predictors of eventual suicide: a 5- to 10-year prospective study of suicide attempters. J Affect Disord. 1989; 17(3):203-9. DOI: 10.1016/0165-0327(89)90001-3. View

Foo X, Alwi M, Ismail S, Ibrahim N, Osman Z . Religious commitment, attitudes toward suicide, and suicidal behaviors among college students of different ethnic and religious groups in Malaysia. J Relig Health. 2012; 53(3):731-46. DOI: 10.1007/s10943-012-9667-9. View

Bhugra D . Suicidal behavior in South Asians in the UK. Crisis. 2003; 23(3):108-13. DOI: 10.1027//0227-5910.23.3.108. View

Lai D, Li L, Daoust G . Factors Influencing Suicide Behaviours in Immigrant and Ethno-Cultural Minority Groups: A Systematic Review. J Immigr Minor Health. 2016; 19(3):755-768. DOI: 10.1007/s10903-016-0490-3. View

10.

Judd F, Jackson H, Komiti A, Bell R, Fraser C . The profile of suicide: changing or changeable?. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2010; 47(1):1-9. DOI: 10.1007/s00127-010-0306-z. View

11.

Stoor J, Kaiser N, Jacobsson L, Salander Renberg E, Silviken A . "We are like lemmings": making sense of the cultural meaning(s) of suicide among the indigenous Sami in Sweden. Int J Circumpolar Health. 2015; 74:27669. PMC: 4558272. DOI: 10.3402/ijch.v74.27669. View

12.

Tsoi W, Kok L . Suicidal behaviour in Singapore for the year 1980. Singapore Med J. 1982; 23(6):299-305. View

13.

Mann J . A current perspective of suicide and attempted suicide. Ann Intern Med. 2002; 136(4):302-11. DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-136-4-200202190-00010. View

14.

Loh M, Tan C, Sim K, Lau G, Mondry A, Leong J . Epidemiology of completed suicides in Singapore for 2001 and 2002. Crisis. 2007; 28(3):148-55. DOI: 10.1027/0227-5910.28.3.148. View

15.

Fones C, Kua E, Ng T, Ko S . Studying the mental health of a nation: a preliminary report on a population survey in Singapore. Singapore Med J. 1998; 39(6):251-5. View

16.

Dhossche D . Suicidal behavior in psychiatric emergency room patients. South Med J. 2000; 93(3):310-4. View

17.

Evans E, Hawton K, Rodham K . In what ways are adolescents who engage in self-harm or experience thoughts of self-harm different in terms of help-seeking, communication and coping strategies?. J Adolesc. 2005; 28(4):573-87. DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2004.11.001. View

18.

Cervantes R, Goldbach J, Varela A, Santisteban D . Self-harm among Hispanic adolescents: investigating the role of culture-related stressors. J Adolesc Health. 2014; 55(5):633-9. PMC: 4209332. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.05.017. View

19.

Harris K, McLean J, Sheffield J . Suicidal and online: how do online behaviors inform us of this high-risk population?. Death Stud. 2014; 38(6-10):387-94. DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2013.768313. View

20.

Patton G, Coffey C, Sawyer S, Viner R, Haller D, Bose K . Global patterns of mortality in young people: a systematic analysis of population health data. Lancet. 2009; 374(9693):881-92. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60741-8. View