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Pattern of suicides in 2009: Data from the National Suicide Registry M alaysia
Author(s) -
Ali Nor Hayati,
Zainun Khairul Anuar,
Bahar Norharlina,
Haniff Jamaiyah,
Hamid Abdul Muneer,
Bujang Mohamad Adam Hj,
Mahmood Mohd Shah
Publication year - 2014
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/j.1758-5872.2012.00227.x
Subject(s) - medicine , christian ministry , demography , population , ethnic group , psychiatry , suicide prevention , suicide rates , mental health , poison control , medical emergency , environmental health , philosophy , theology , sociology , anthropology
The N ational S uicide R egistry M alaysia ( NSRM ) is a nationwide system that captures data on completed suicides in M alaysia from all forensic departments under the purview of the M inistry of H ealth M alaysia. Methods This paper examines all suicidal deaths reported to the NSRM from 1 J anuary 2009 to 31 D ecember 2009. The relevant variables were recorded in the paper‐based C ase R eport F orm ( CRF ) and then entered into the online reporting system for analysis. Results The overall suicide rate for 2009 was 1.18 per 100,000 population ( n = 328). The age range was 14–94 years, with a median of 37 ( IQR 24) years. There were more men than women, the gender ratio being 2.9:1 (males : females), and the majority (89% or 293/328) were M alaysian citizens. Ethnicity‐wise, I ndians had the highest suicide rate of 3.67 per 100,000. The M alays and B umiputera of S abah and S arawak had lower rates of 0.32 to 0.37 per 100,000. Mental illness was reported in 22% (72/328) of the cases and physical illnesses in 20.4% (67/328). Previous suicide attempts were reported in 15.5% (51/328) of cases. History of substance abuse was present in 28.7% (83/328). Life events were positive in 41.2% (135/328) of cases. Discussion M alaysia is able to generate statistics on suicide by enhancing the collaboration between forensic, psychiatry and clinical research agencies. These trends should be monitored to gain a better understanding of suicide trends.