- Title
- Suicide in rural Australia : are farming-related suicides different?
- Creator
- Kennedy, Alison; Adams, Jessie; Dwyer, Jeremy; Rahman, Muhammad Aziz; Brumby, Susan
- Date
- 2020
- Type
- Text; Journal article
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/172419
- Identifier
- vital:14485
- Identifier
-
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062010
- Identifier
- ISBN:1661-7827 (ISSN)
- Abstract
- Rural Australians experience a range of health inequities—including higher rates of suicide—when compared to the general population. This retrospective cohort study compares demographic characteristics and suicide death circumstances of farming-and non-farming-related suicides in rural Victoria with the aim of: (a) exploring the contributing factors to farming-related suicide in Australia’s largest agricultural producing state; and (b) examining whether farming-related suicides differ from suicide in rural communities. Farming-related suicide deaths were more likely to: (a) be employed at the time of death (52.6% vs. 37.7%, OR = 1.84, 95% CIs 1.28–2.64); and, (b) have died through use of a firearm (30.1% vs. 8.7%, OR = 4.51, 95% CIs 2.97–6.92). However, farming-related suicides were less likely to (a) have a diagnosed mental illness (36.1% vs. 46.1%, OR=0.66, 95% CIs 0.46–0.96) and, (b) have received mental health support more than six weeks prior to death (39.8% vs. 50.0%, OR = 0.66, 95% CIs 0.46–0.95). A range of suicide prevention strategies need adopting across all segments of the rural population irrespective of farming status. However, data from farming-related suicides highlight the need for targeted firearm-related suicide prevention measures and appropriate, tailored and accessible support services to support health, well-being and safety for members of farming communities. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Relation
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Vol. 17, no. 6 (2020), p.
- Rights
- http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- Rights
- Copyright © 2020 by the authors
- Rights
- Open Access
- Rights
- This metadata is freely available under a CCO license
- Subject
- 0104 Statistics; 1103 Clinical Sciences; Australia; Farmers; Mental health; Risk factors; Rural population; Suicide
- Full Text
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