Suicide among Inuit: Results from a Large, Epidemiologically Representative Follow-Back Study in Nunavut
Objective: The Inuit population in Canada's North has suffered from high rates of death by suicide. We report on the first large-scale, controlled, epidemiologically representative study of deaths by suicide in an Indigenous population, which investigates risk factors for suicide among all Inui...
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crsagepubl:10.1177/070674371506000605 2024-10-06T13:50:11+00:00 Suicide among Inuit: Results from a Large, Epidemiologically Representative Follow-Back Study in Nunavut Chachamovich, Eduardo Kirmayer, Laurence J Haggarty, John M Cargo, Margaret McCormick, Rod Turecki, Gustavo 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/070674371506000605 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/070674371506000605 en eng SAGE Publications https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry volume 60, issue 6, page 268-275 ISSN 0706-7437 1497-0015 journal-article 2015 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/070674371506000605 2024-09-10T04:28:05Z Objective: The Inuit population in Canada's North has suffered from high rates of death by suicide. We report on the first large-scale, controlled, epidemiologically representative study of deaths by suicide in an Indigenous population, which investigates risk factors for suicide among all Inuit across Nunavut who died by suicide during a 4-year period. Methods: We identified all suicides by Inuit ( n = 120) that occurred between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2006, in Nunavut. For each subject, we selected a community-matched control subject. We used proxy-based procedures and conducted structured interviews with informants to obtain life histories, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Axis I and II diagnoses, and measures of impulsive and (or) aggressive traits. Results: Compared with control subjects, subjects who died by suicide were more likely to have experienced childhood abuse (OR 2.38; 95% CI 1.39 to 4.08), have family histories of major depressive disorder ( P = 0.002) and suicide completion ( P = 0.02), and have been affected by major depressive disorder (OR 13.00; 95% CI 6.20 to 27.25), alcohol dependence (OR 2.90; 95% CI 1.59 to 5.24), or cannabis dependence (OR 3.96; 95% CI 2.29 to 6.8) in the last 6 months. In addition, subjects who died by suicide were more likely to have been affected with cluster B personality disorders (OR 10.18; 95% CI 3.34 to 30.80) and had higher scores of impulsive and aggressive traits ( P < 0.001). Conclusions: At the individual level, clinical risk factors for suicide among Inuit are similar to those observed in studies with the general population, and indicate a need for improved access to mental health services. The high rate of mental health problems among control subjects suggests the need for population-level mental health promotion. Article in Journal/Newspaper inuit Nunavut SAGE Publications Nunavut The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 60 6 268 275 |
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description |
Objective: The Inuit population in Canada's North has suffered from high rates of death by suicide. We report on the first large-scale, controlled, epidemiologically representative study of deaths by suicide in an Indigenous population, which investigates risk factors for suicide among all Inuit across Nunavut who died by suicide during a 4-year period. Methods: We identified all suicides by Inuit ( n = 120) that occurred between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2006, in Nunavut. For each subject, we selected a community-matched control subject. We used proxy-based procedures and conducted structured interviews with informants to obtain life histories, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Axis I and II diagnoses, and measures of impulsive and (or) aggressive traits. Results: Compared with control subjects, subjects who died by suicide were more likely to have experienced childhood abuse (OR 2.38; 95% CI 1.39 to 4.08), have family histories of major depressive disorder ( P = 0.002) and suicide completion ( P = 0.02), and have been affected by major depressive disorder (OR 13.00; 95% CI 6.20 to 27.25), alcohol dependence (OR 2.90; 95% CI 1.59 to 5.24), or cannabis dependence (OR 3.96; 95% CI 2.29 to 6.8) in the last 6 months. In addition, subjects who died by suicide were more likely to have been affected with cluster B personality disorders (OR 10.18; 95% CI 3.34 to 30.80) and had higher scores of impulsive and aggressive traits ( P < 0.001). Conclusions: At the individual level, clinical risk factors for suicide among Inuit are similar to those observed in studies with the general population, and indicate a need for improved access to mental health services. The high rate of mental health problems among control subjects suggests the need for population-level mental health promotion. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Chachamovich, Eduardo Kirmayer, Laurence J Haggarty, John M Cargo, Margaret McCormick, Rod Turecki, Gustavo |
spellingShingle |
Chachamovich, Eduardo Kirmayer, Laurence J Haggarty, John M Cargo, Margaret McCormick, Rod Turecki, Gustavo Suicide among Inuit: Results from a Large, Epidemiologically Representative Follow-Back Study in Nunavut |
author_facet |
Chachamovich, Eduardo Kirmayer, Laurence J Haggarty, John M Cargo, Margaret McCormick, Rod Turecki, Gustavo |
author_sort |
Chachamovich, Eduardo |
title |
Suicide among Inuit: Results from a Large, Epidemiologically Representative Follow-Back Study in Nunavut |
title_short |
Suicide among Inuit: Results from a Large, Epidemiologically Representative Follow-Back Study in Nunavut |
title_full |
Suicide among Inuit: Results from a Large, Epidemiologically Representative Follow-Back Study in Nunavut |
title_fullStr |
Suicide among Inuit: Results from a Large, Epidemiologically Representative Follow-Back Study in Nunavut |
title_full_unstemmed |
Suicide among Inuit: Results from a Large, Epidemiologically Representative Follow-Back Study in Nunavut |
title_sort |
suicide among inuit: results from a large, epidemiologically representative follow-back study in nunavut |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/070674371506000605 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/070674371506000605 |
geographic |
Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Nunavut |
genre |
inuit Nunavut |
genre_facet |
inuit Nunavut |
op_source |
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry volume 60, issue 6, page 268-275 ISSN 0706-7437 1497-0015 |
op_rights |
https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/070674371506000605 |
container_title |
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry |
container_volume |
60 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
268 |
op_container_end_page |
275 |
_version_ |
1812178267321401344 |