Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 4/2012

01-04-2012 | Original Paper

Prevalence of suicidal behaviours in two Australian general population surveys: methodological considerations when comparing across studies

Authors: A. Kate Fairweather-Schmidt, Kaarin J. Anstey

Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology | Issue 4/2012

Login to get access

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate whether methodological differences between two Australian general population surveys have the capacity to affect the apparent prevalence rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.

Methods

609 Wave 1 of the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Project participants, and 83 participants derived from the 1997 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHWB) met the criteria for inclusion (suicidal ideation/suicide attempt). Analysis involved Chi-square and binary logistic regression.

Results

Twelve-month prevalence rates for suicidal ideation and suicide attempt were 8.2%, (95% CI = 7.6–8.8) and 0.8% (95% CI = 0.6–1.0) for PATH (N = 7,485), and contrast with 2.9% (95% CI = 2.6–3.2) and 0.3% (95% CI = 0.2–0.5) for NSMHWB (N = 10,641) samples, respectively. While notable discrepancies are apparent between the prevalence statistics, both sets of statistics are within the bounds of other Australian and international studies. Parallel rate disparities for suicidal ideation are found across age-by-gender groups. Aside from differences in the basic prevalence rates, surveys have analogous age-by-gender profiles for suicidal ideation.

Conclusions

While it is possible that samples are representative of the populations from which they are derived, 12-month prevalence rate discrepancies between PATH and NSMHWB surveys are likely to originate from demographic and survey methodology differences. Where investigations employ different methodologies, especially in relation to modes of survey administration and the assessment items utilised, a cautious approach should be taken when comparing findings.
Literature
1.
Burless C, De Leo D (2001) Methodological issues in community surveys of suicide ideators and attempters. Crisis 22:108–23
2.
Fairweather AK, Anstey KJ, Rodgers B, Jorm AF, Christensen H (2007) Age and gender differences among Australian suicide ideators: prevalence and correlates. J Nerv Ment Dis 195:130–136
3.
Diekstra RFW, Garnefski N (1995) On the nature, magnitude, and causality of suicidal behavior: an international perspective. Suicide Life Threat Behav 25:36–57
4.
Kessler RC, Borges G, Walters EE (1999) Prevalence of and risk factors for lifetime suicide attempts in the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry 56:617–626
5.
Kuo W, Gallo JJ, Tien AY (2001) Incidence of suicidal ideation and attempts in adults: the 13-year follow-up of a community sample in Baltimore, Maryland. Psychol Med 31:1181–1191
6.
Paykel ES, Myers JK, Lindenthal JJ, Tanner J (1974) Suicidal feelings in the general population: a prevalence study. Br J Psychiatry 124:460–469
7.
Weissman MM, Bland RC, Canino GJ, Greenwald S, Hwu HG, Joyce PR, Karam EG, Lee CK, Lellouch J, Lepine JP, Newman SC, Rubio Stipec M, Wells JE, Wickramaratne PJ, Wittchen HU, Yeh EK (1999) Prevalence of suicide ideation and suicide attempts in nine countries. Psychol Med 29:9–17
8.
Fairweather AK, Anstey KJ, Rodgers B, Butterworth P (2006) Factors distinguishing suicide attempters from suicide ideators in a community sample: Social issues and physical health problems. Psychol Med 36:1235–1246
9.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008) National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: Summary of Results, 2007 (Cat No. 4326.0). Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra
10.
Jorm AF, Anstey KJ, Christensen H, Rodgers B (2004) Gender differences in cognitive abilities: the mediating role of health state and health habits. Intelligence: 7–23
11.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1998) National Survey of Mental health and Wellbeing: Profile of adults, Australia, 1997 (Cat No. 4326.0). Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra
12.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1999) National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adults: Users’ Guide, 1997 (Cat No. 4327.0). Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra
13.
Lindelow M, Hardy R, Rodgers B (1997) Development of a scale to measure symptoms of anxiety and depression in the general population: the psychiatric symptom frequency scale. J Epidemiol Community Health 51:549–557
14.
Tabachnick BG, Fidell LS (2001) Using multivariate statistics. Allyn and Bacon, Boston
15.
Hintikka J, Viinamäki H, Tanskanen A, Kontula O, Koskela K (1998) Suicidal ideation and parasuicide in the Finnish general population. Acta Psychiatr Scand 98:23–27
16.
Kjoller M, Helweg-Larsen M (2000) Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among adult Danes. Scand J Public Health 28:54–61
17.
Stravynski A, Boyer R (2001) Loneliness in relation to suicide ideation and parasuicide: a population-wide study. Suicide Life Threat Behav 31:32–40
18.
Turvey C, Stromquist A, Kelly K, Zwerling C, Merchant J (2002) Financial loss and suicidal ideation in a rural community sample. Acta Psychiatr Scand 106:373–380
19.
Rancans E, Lapins J, Renberg E, S., Jacobsson L (2003) Self-reported suicidal and help seeking behaviours in the general population. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 38:18–26
20.
De Leo D, Cerin E, Spathonis K, Burgis S (2005) Lifetime risk of suicide ideation and attempts in an Australian community: prevalence, suicidal process, and help-seeking behaviour. J Affect Disord 86:215–224
21.
Taylor A, Grande E, Gill T, Fisher L, Goldney R (2007) Detecting determinants of suicidal ideation: South Australian surveillance system results. Int J Public Health 52: 142–152
22.
Goldney RD, Fisher LJ, Wilson D, Cheok F (2001) Suicidal ideation and health-related quality of life in the community. Med J Aust 175:546–549
23.
Goldney RD, Wilson D, Dal Grande E, Fisher LJ, McFarlane A (2000) Suicidal ideation in a random community sample: attributable risk due to depression and psychosocial and traumatic events. Aust NZJ Psychiatry 34:98–106
24.
Pirkis J, Burgess P, Dunt D (2000) Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among Australian adults. Crisis 21:16–25
25.
Johnston AK, Pirkis JE, Burgess PM (2007) Suicidal thoughts, behaviours among Australian adults: findings from the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Aust NZJ Psychiatry 2009:635–643
26.
Merrill J, Owens J (1990) Age and attempted suicide. Acta Psychiatr Scand :385–388
27.
Bille-Brahe U (1993) The role of sex and age in suicidal behaviour. Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl 371:21–27
28.
Hawton K, Fagg J, Simkin S, Mills J (1994) The epidemiology of attempted suicide in the Oxford Area, England (1989–1992). Crisis 123–135
29.
Diekstra RFW (1996) Epidemiology of suicide and parasuicide. Arch Suicide Res 1–29
30.
Vilhjalmsson R, Kristjansdottir G, Sveinbjarnardottir E (1998) Factors associated with suicide ideation in adults. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 33:97–103
31.
Crosby AE, Cheltenham MP, Sacks JJ (1999) Incidence of suicidal ideation and behavior in the United States, 1994. Suicide Life Threat Behav 29:131–140
32.
Thomas HV, Crawford M, Meltzer H, Lewis G (2002) Thinking life is not worth living. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 351–356
33.
Platt S (1984) Unemployment and suicidal behaviour: A review of the literature. Soc Sci Med 19:93–115
34.
Flatau P, Galea J, Petridis R (2000) Mental health and wellbeing and unemployment. Aust Econ Rev 54:161–181
35.
Taylor R (2003) Age, labour market conditions and male suicide rates in selected countries. Ageing Soc 25–40
36.
Kooiker SE (1995) Exploring the iceberg of morbidity: a comparison of different survey methods for assessing the occurrence of everyday illness. Soc Sci Med 41:317–332
37.
Moum T (1998) Mode of administration and interviewer effects in self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression. Soc Indic Res 279–318
38.
Richman WL, Weisband S, Kiesler S, Drasgow F (1999) A meta-analytic study of social desirability distortion in computer-administered questionnaires, traditional questionnaires, and interviews. J Appl Psychol 754–775
39.
Jorm AF, Duncan-Jones P, Scott R (1989) An analysis of the re-test artefact in longitudinal studies of psychiatric symptoms and personality. Psychol Med 487–493
40.
Williams JMG (1997) Historical Perspective. In: Williams JMG (ed) Cry of pain: understanding suicide and self-harm. Penguin Books, London, pp. 1–18
41.
Kessler RC, Ustun TB (2004) The World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative Version of the World Health Organization (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 93–121
Metadata
Title
Prevalence of suicidal behaviours in two Australian general population surveys: methodological considerations when comparing across studies
Authors
A. Kate Fairweather-Schmidt
Kaarin J. Anstey
Publication date
01-04-2012
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology / Issue 4/2012
Print ISSN: 0933-7954
Electronic ISSN: 1433-9285
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-011-0369-5

Other articles of this Issue 4/2012

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 4/2012 Go to the issue

Original Paper

Gender differences in insomnia and the role of paid work and family responsibilities

Original Paper

Psychometric properties of the Taiwanese version of the Illness Concept Scale: relation of health beliefs to psychopathology and medication compliance

Original Paper

Prevalence and predictors for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and general health in a population from six villages in South Lebanon

Original Paper

Working conditions and psychotropic medication: a prospective cohort study

Original Paper

Predicting community violence from patients discharged from acute mental health units in England

Original Paper

Family burden and functional assessment in the Swedish CLIPS-study: do staff and relatives agree on individuals with psychotic disorders’ functional status?