A psychological autopsy study of suicide among Inuit in Nunavut: methodological and ethical considerations, feasibility and acceptability
Introduction. The increasing global prevalence of suicide has made it a major public health concern. Research designed to retrospectively study suicide cases is now being conducted in populations around the world. This field of research is especially crucial in Aboriginal populations, as they often...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c8024eee269b4102a90f410711e72f96 2023-05-15T15:11:31+02:00 A psychological autopsy study of suicide among Inuit in Nunavut: methodological and ethical considerations, feasibility and acceptability Eduardo Chachamovich Jack Haggarty Margaret Cargo Jack Hicks Laurence J. Kirmayer Gustavo Turecki 2013-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v72i0.20078 https://doaj.org/article/c8024eee269b4102a90f410711e72f96 EN eng Taylor & Francis Group http://www.circumpolarhealthjournal.net/index.php/ijch/article/view/20078/pdf_1 https://doaj.org/toc/2242-3982 doi:10.3402/ijch.v72i0.20078 2242-3982 https://doaj.org/article/c8024eee269b4102a90f410711e72f96 International Journal of Circumpolar Health, Vol 72, Iss 0, Pp 1-10 (2013) suicide Inuit psychological autopsy mental health cross-cultural Canada Aboriginal Nunavut risk factors Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v72i0.20078 2022-12-31T09:23:47Z Introduction. The increasing global prevalence of suicide has made it a major public health concern. Research designed to retrospectively study suicide cases is now being conducted in populations around the world. This field of research is especially crucial in Aboriginal populations, as they often have higher suicide rates than the rest of the country. Objective. This article presents the methodological aspects of the first psychological autopsy study on suicide among Inuit in Nunavut. Qaujivallianiq Inuusirijauvalauqtunik (Learning from lives that have been lived) is a large case-control study, including all 120 cases of suicide by Inuit that occurred in Nunavut between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2006. The article describes the research design, ethical considerations and strategies used to adapt the psychological autopsy method to Nunavut Inuit. Specifically, we present local social and cultural issues; data collection procedures; and the acceptability, reliability and validity of the method. Method. A retrospective case-control study using the psychological autopsy approach was carried out in 22 communities in Nunavut. A total of 498 individuals were directly interviewed, and medical and correctional charts were also reviewed. Results. The psychological autopsy method was well received by participants as they appreciated the opportunity to discuss the loss of a family member or friend by suicide. During interviews, informants readily identified symptoms of psychiatric disorders, although culture-specific rather than clinical explanations were sometimes provided. Results suggest that the psychological autopsy method can be effectively used in Inuit populations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health inuit Nunavut Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Nunavut Canada International Journal of Circumpolar Health 72 1 20078 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
suicide Inuit psychological autopsy mental health cross-cultural Canada Aboriginal Nunavut risk factors Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
spellingShingle |
suicide Inuit psychological autopsy mental health cross-cultural Canada Aboriginal Nunavut risk factors Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Eduardo Chachamovich Jack Haggarty Margaret Cargo Jack Hicks Laurence J. Kirmayer Gustavo Turecki A psychological autopsy study of suicide among Inuit in Nunavut: methodological and ethical considerations, feasibility and acceptability |
topic_facet |
suicide Inuit psychological autopsy mental health cross-cultural Canada Aboriginal Nunavut risk factors Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
description |
Introduction. The increasing global prevalence of suicide has made it a major public health concern. Research designed to retrospectively study suicide cases is now being conducted in populations around the world. This field of research is especially crucial in Aboriginal populations, as they often have higher suicide rates than the rest of the country. Objective. This article presents the methodological aspects of the first psychological autopsy study on suicide among Inuit in Nunavut. Qaujivallianiq Inuusirijauvalauqtunik (Learning from lives that have been lived) is a large case-control study, including all 120 cases of suicide by Inuit that occurred in Nunavut between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2006. The article describes the research design, ethical considerations and strategies used to adapt the psychological autopsy method to Nunavut Inuit. Specifically, we present local social and cultural issues; data collection procedures; and the acceptability, reliability and validity of the method. Method. A retrospective case-control study using the psychological autopsy approach was carried out in 22 communities in Nunavut. A total of 498 individuals were directly interviewed, and medical and correctional charts were also reviewed. Results. The psychological autopsy method was well received by participants as they appreciated the opportunity to discuss the loss of a family member or friend by suicide. During interviews, informants readily identified symptoms of psychiatric disorders, although culture-specific rather than clinical explanations were sometimes provided. Results suggest that the psychological autopsy method can be effectively used in Inuit populations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Eduardo Chachamovich Jack Haggarty Margaret Cargo Jack Hicks Laurence J. Kirmayer Gustavo Turecki |
author_facet |
Eduardo Chachamovich Jack Haggarty Margaret Cargo Jack Hicks Laurence J. Kirmayer Gustavo Turecki |
author_sort |
Eduardo Chachamovich |
title |
A psychological autopsy study of suicide among Inuit in Nunavut: methodological and ethical considerations, feasibility and acceptability |
title_short |
A psychological autopsy study of suicide among Inuit in Nunavut: methodological and ethical considerations, feasibility and acceptability |
title_full |
A psychological autopsy study of suicide among Inuit in Nunavut: methodological and ethical considerations, feasibility and acceptability |
title_fullStr |
A psychological autopsy study of suicide among Inuit in Nunavut: methodological and ethical considerations, feasibility and acceptability |
title_full_unstemmed |
A psychological autopsy study of suicide among Inuit in Nunavut: methodological and ethical considerations, feasibility and acceptability |
title_sort |
psychological autopsy study of suicide among inuit in nunavut: methodological and ethical considerations, feasibility and acceptability |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v72i0.20078 https://doaj.org/article/c8024eee269b4102a90f410711e72f96 |
geographic |
Arctic Nunavut Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Nunavut Canada |
genre |
Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health inuit Nunavut |
genre_facet |
Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health inuit Nunavut |
op_source |
International Journal of Circumpolar Health, Vol 72, Iss 0, Pp 1-10 (2013) |
op_relation |
http://www.circumpolarhealthjournal.net/index.php/ijch/article/view/20078/pdf_1 https://doaj.org/toc/2242-3982 doi:10.3402/ijch.v72i0.20078 2242-3982 https://doaj.org/article/c8024eee269b4102a90f410711e72f96 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v72i0.20078 |
container_title |
International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
container_volume |
72 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
20078 |
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1766342355326074880 |