Citation

Mittendorfer-Rutz E, Hagström A, Hollander AC. Crisis 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Publisher Hogrefe Publishing)

DOI

10.1027/0227-5910/a000636

PMID

31859565

Abstract

Background and aim: We aimed to assess rates and background factors of suicide among unaccompanied minors/youth (10–21 years of age) seeking asylum in Sweden in 2017, and to compare these rates with rates in the Swedish general population of the same age. Method: Data were collected and validated using information from four governmental agencies and two nongovernmental organizations. Suicide rates were calculated for 100,000 individuals. Results: The suicide rate was 51.2 per 100,000 among unaccompanied minors/youth, which compares to 6.1 per 100,000 in the host population. Characteristics of asylum seekers who died by suicide were: male gender (100%) and from Afghanistan (83%). Hanging was the predominant method (60%). Limitations: As estimation of an exact population of asylum seekers is difficult; we overestimated the number of individuals in the population of asylum seekers, resulting in an underestimation of their suicide rates. Conclusion: The suicide rate in unaccompanied minors/youth seeking asylum in 2017 in Sweden can be regarded as very high. Rapid implementation of suicide preventive measures is warranted.

Keywords: unaccompanied minors, asylum, suicide, epidemiology

Language: en

Keywords

asylum; epidemiology; suicide; unaccompanied minors