Factors Associated with Thoughts of Self-Harm or Suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People Presenting to Urban Primary Care: An Analysis of De-Identified Clinical Data

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
File version

Version of Record (VoR)

Author(s)
Pandeya, NA
Schluter, PJ
Spurling, GK
Tyson, C
Hayman, NE
Askew, DA
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2022
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract

Suicide amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is a major cause of prema-ture mortality and a significant contributor to the health and life expectancy gap. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of thoughts of self-harm or suicide in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people attending an urban primary health care service and identify factors associated with these thoughts. Multilevel mixed-effects modified Poisson regression models were employed to an-alyse three years of data gathered during the annual Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessments. At their first health assessment, 11.5% (191/1664) of people reported thoughts of suicide or self-harm in the prior two weeks. Having children, participating in sport or community activities or being employed full-time decreased the risk of such thoughts. Conversely, factors re-lating to social exclusion including homelessness, drug use, unemployment and job insecurity increased the risk of thoughts of self-harm or suicide. Individual clinicians, health services, and pol-icy-makers all have a role in suicide prevention. Clinicians need appropriate training to be able to respond to people expressing these thoughts. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community or-ganisations need sovereignty and self-determination over resources to provide programs that pro-mote cultural connectivity and address social exclusion, thereby saving lives.

Journal Title

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

19

Issue

1

Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Social work

Sociology of health

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

epidemiological study

primary health care

suicidal ideation

Persistent link to this record
Citation

Pandeya, NA; Schluter, PJ; Spurling, GK; Tyson, C; Hayman, NE; Askew, DA, Factors associated with thoughts of self-harm or suicide among aboriginal and torres strait islander people presenting to urban primary care: An analysis of de-identified clinical data, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022, 19 (1), pp. 153

Collections