Citation

Armstrong G, Pirkis J, Arabena K, Currier D, Spittal MJ, Jorm AF. Aust. N. Zeal. J. Psychiatry 2017; 51(12): 1240-1248.

Affiliation

Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0004867417704059

PMID

28393536

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We compare the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and attempts between Indigenous and non-Indigenous males in urban and regional Australia, and examine the extent to which any disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous males varies across age groups.

METHODS: We used data from the baseline wave of The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health (Ten to Men), a large-scale cohort study of Australian males aged 10-55 years residing in urban and regional areas. Indigenous identification was determined through participants self-reporting as Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or both. The survey collected data on suicidal thoughts in the preceding 2 weeks and lifetime suicide attempts.

RESULTS: A total of 432 participants (2.7%) identified as Indigenous and 15,425 as non-Indigenous (97.3%). Indigenous males were twice as likely as non-Indigenous males to report recent suicidal thoughts (17.6% vs 9.4%; odds ratio = 2.1, p < 0.001) and more than three times as likely to report a suicide attempt in their lifetime (17.0% vs 5.1%; odds ratio = 3.6; p < 0.001). The prevalence of recent suicidal thoughts did not differ between Indigenous and non-Indigenous males in younger age groups, but a significant gap emerged among men aged 30-39 years and was largest among men aged 40-55 years. Similarly, the prevalence of lifetime suicide attempts did not differ between Indigenous and non-Indigenous males in the 14- to 17-years age group, but a disparity emerged in the 18- to 24-years age group and was even larger among males aged 25 years and older.

CONCLUSION: Our paper presents unique data on suicidal thoughts and attempts among a broad age range of Indigenous and non-Indigenous males. The disparity in the prevalence of suicidal thoughts increased across age groups, which is in contrast to the large disparity between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous suicide rates in younger age groups.

Language: en

Keywords

Australia; Indigenous; prevalence; suicidal ideation; suicide attempt