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Area factors and suicide: 5-year follow-up of the Northern Ireland population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Dermot O'Reilly ,
Michael Rosato ,
Sheelah Connolly  and
Chris Cardwell
Dermot O'Reilly*
Affiliation:
Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre for Clinical and Population Sciences, Queen's University, Belfast
Michael Rosato
Affiliation:
Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre for Clinical and Population Sciences, Queen's University, Belfast
Sheelah Connolly
Affiliation:
Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre for Clinical and Population Sciences, Queen's University, Belfast
Chris Cardwell
Affiliation:
Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre for Clinical and Population Sciences, Queen's University, Belfast
*
Dermot O'Reilly, Epidemiology and Public Health, Centre for Clinical and Population Sciences, Mulhouse, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BJ, UK. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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Background

Suicide rates vary markedly between areas but it is unclear whether this is due to differences in population composition or to contextual factors operating at an area level.

Aims

To determine if area factors are independently related to suicide risk after adjustment for individual and family characteristics.

Method

A 5-year record linkage study was conducted of 1 116 748 non-institutionalised individuals aged 16–74 years, enumerated at the 2001 Northern Ireland census.

Results

The cohort experienced 566 suicides during follow-up. Suicide risks were lowest for women and for those who were married or cohabiting. Indicators of individual and household disadvantage and economic and health status at the time of the census were also strongly related to risk of suicide. The higher rates of suicide in the more deprived and socially fragmented areas disappeared after adjustment for individual and household factors. There was no significant relationship between population density and risk of suicide.

Conclusions

Differences in rates of suicide between areas are predominantly due to population characteristics rather than to area-level factors, which suggests that policies targeted at area-level factors are unlikely to significantly influence suicides rates.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 192 , Issue 2 , February 2008 , pp. 106 - 111
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2008 

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