Evidence-based suicide prevention begins with deeper analysis

Volume 10 Number 10 October 13 - November 9 2014

Researchers in mental health are working with colleagues at the Coroners Court of Victoria to refine and evaluate a register of deaths by suicide in the state of Victoria in an effort to identify risk factors for suicide, and to development effective prevention measures. By Katherine Smith.

It makes big headlines when news breaks that a celebrity has taken their own life, and most people at least know someone who knows someone whose life has been touched by suicide: but as a society it’s something we know little about, and talk about even less.

“Conservatively, there are over 2,000 suicides in Australia annually, over a quarter of which occur in Victoria,” says Dr Georgina Sutherland, who is Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Mental Health at the University of Melbourne.

“Statistics show that suicide is – probably surprisingly to many - the leading cause of death for males under the age of 45 years, of females aged less than 35 years, and the fifteenth leading cause of death overall.”

To try to understand more deeply the factors involved in a person’s decision to take their own life, researchers from the Centre for Mental Health are working on a collaborative project with the Coroners Prevention Unit of the Coroners Court of Victoria to develop and evaluate the Victorian Suicide Register (VSR). 

“The register is a mortality database developed and managed by the Coroners Court and is integrated into its processes for reporting on reviewable and reportable deaths.

“Efforts to prevent suicide have been stymied by inadequate data sources, so we aim to use the register to highlight the way comprehensive information on all suicides occurring in Victoria provides the best possible evidence base for prevention.

The VSR seeks to go beyond the snapshot data currently available through the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), to describe a fuller picture of the context around a death by suicide.

“The Register collates a broad range of information about suicides in Victoria from records of deaths investigated by the Coroner.”

Dr Sutherland says a challenge for researchers and those tailoring prevention programs is that suicide most often arises from a complex interaction of many vulnerabilities and triggers but we know very little about how they manifest for particular groups nor which prevention strategies are most effective for countering those factors.

Information collected by the VSR includes more contextual information, such as evidence of an individual’s contact with health or welfare services, police, and drug or alcohol services. Witness statements and statements from family on potential stresses such as relationship breakdown, difficulties at work or at home are documented to find out what was going on for individuals prior to death.

“This information on tipping points and patterns of care are really valuable to know, and help all involved tailor specific prevention efforts”.

“One of the partners involved in evaluating the VSR is the Lifeline Research Foundation. Their interest in the study is from a service provision perspective. One of things we can help them do is map data from the register with particular geographical areas of Victoria in order to better understand who may be most at risk in particular regions and tailor responses accordingly.
www.healthprograms.unimelb.edu.au

Anyone with mental health concerns can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue on 1300 22 4636