NATIONAL TRENDS IN SUICIDE BY AGE, GENDER, GEOGRAPHY, SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND MIGRANT STATUS AND MENTAL HEALTH
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$148,690.00
Summary
Suicide in Australia has become an increasingly important public health problem, chiefly because of increasing rates in some population sub-groups, and to a lesser extent because declines in other external causes of death have increased the prominence of suicide. Since the 1970s suicide rates have increased in young males and have eclipsed motor vehicle accidents as the dominant cause of death in this group. Suicide in the young produces a significant impact on years of life lost from premature ....Suicide in Australia has become an increasingly important public health problem, chiefly because of increasing rates in some population sub-groups, and to a lesser extent because declines in other external causes of death have increased the prominence of suicide. Since the 1970s suicide rates have increased in young males and have eclipsed motor vehicle accidents as the dominant cause of death in this group. Suicide in the young produces a significant impact on years of life lost from premature mortality. Suicide rates have been shown to vary by socio-economic status, ethnicity, area of residence, age and sex. In NSW for example, suicide rates in young males have been found to have increased by 50% in urban areas, and by 5-6 times in isolated rural areas. Another study has shown suicide rates to vary by country-of-birth which in turn has an effect on its relationship with socio-economic status. However, not all studies have replicated findings in NSW. In Queensland, for example, it has been shown that male youth suicide rates in rural areas have not substantially exceeded those in urban areas. There have been very few studies at the national level of variations in suicide in Australia. Most studies of Australian suicide to date have been confined to state-level analyses or to very limited nation-level analyses. An additional spur to a whole-nation approach to suicide has been the nation-wide Australian Bureau of Statistics Mental Health and Wellbeing Profile of Adults and a similar mental health survey of youth. Thus for the first time it will be possible to relate population prevalence of self-reported mental illness to suicide rates. In short, the current proposal addresses the two major gaps in Australia in population suicide research: examining suicide at the national level with regard to geographic location, immigrant and socio-economic status; and correlating surveyed prevalence of mental illness with suicide rates.Read moreRead less
ESTIMATION OF INDIGENOUS MORTALITY WHERE DESIGNATION OF INDIGENOUS STATUS ON DEATH CERTIFICATES IS UNRELIABLE
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$158,840.00
Summary
Mortality of indigenous Australians is regarded as unacceptably high compared to other Australians and compared to indigenous minorities in other similar countries. Indigenous mortality is based on data from WA, SA and NT, although some of the data are unreliable. There are few reliable data available in Qld, NSW, Vic or Tas because Indigenous status is significantly under-recorded on the death certificate. The objective of the research is to devise and validate indirect methods for estimating i ....Mortality of indigenous Australians is regarded as unacceptably high compared to other Australians and compared to indigenous minorities in other similar countries. Indigenous mortality is based on data from WA, SA and NT, although some of the data are unreliable. There are few reliable data available in Qld, NSW, Vic or Tas because Indigenous status is significantly under-recorded on the death certificate. The objective of the research is to devise and validate indirect methods for estimating indigenous mortality in sub-populations where there are significant proportions of indigenous people, and where designation of indigenous status on death certificate is unreliable. This would permit assessment of mortality differentials and trends in a significant number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Qld, NSW, Vic and possibly Tas and provide new perspectives in the study of determinants of mortality in indigenous populations through comparisons of communities with relatively high and relatively low mortality, and allow population-based evaluation of the effectiveness of services and programs through surveillence of mortality trends and differentials. The methods rely on the basic premise that the total mortality of a population is contributed to by the mortality of its components in relation to their proportion of the total population. The units of analyses will be mainly municipalities. Mortality and proportion indigenous will be used in the comparison of municipalities with similar socio-economic and geographic characteristics, and mortality by municipality will be statistically modelled using various characteristics of these populations, including proportion indigenous (using ABS data). Methods will be validated by employing them on selected WA, SA and NT mortality data where designation of indigenous staus is considered reliable. Mortality estimates will then be made for indigenous communities in NSW, Qld, and other states.Read moreRead less