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Suicide among the youth in M alaysia: What do we know?
Author(s) -
Bahar Norharlina,
Ismail Wan Salwina Wan,
Hussain Nurulwafa,
Haniff Jamaiyah,
Bujang Mohamad Adam,
Hamid Abdul Muneer,
Yusuff Yusni,
Nordin Norhayati,
Ali Nor Hayati
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
asia‐pacific psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.654
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1758-5872
pISSN - 1758-5864
DOI - 10.1111/appy.12162
Subject(s) - demography , demographics , medicine , suicide prevention , population , suicide methods , suicide rates , poison control , psychiatry , gerontology , environmental health , sociology
This article aims to study the pattern of youth suicide cases in Malaysia, following which preventive actions can then be planned and practiced to reduce these suicide cases. Methods This is a cross‐sectional study looking at notifications of all suicides involving members of the youth population, as had been reported to N ational S uicide R egistry M alaysia from J anuary 1, 2009 to D ecember 31, 2009. Information such as profile demographics and methods of suicide were utilized accordingly. Results There were 53 youths between the ages of 15 and 24 years reported to have undergone completed suicides. The suicide rate among youths was 1.03 per 100,000 populations in 2009, accounting for the male gender (66.0%), with Indians being the highest suicide completers (40.4% and 5.6 per 100,000 populations). The most common method of suicide was hanging (56.6%) followed by self‐poisoning (15.1%). Discussion The suicide rate among Malaysian youth is relatively lower compared with other countries in the Asian region. Majority were male, of Indian descent, and were still in secondary school. Preventive actions need to be taken especially for specific groups such as the Indian youth.