Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The influence of deprivation on suicide mortality in urban and rural Queensland: an ecological analysis

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

A trend of higher suicide rates in rural and remote areas as well as areas with low socioeconomic status has been shown in previous research. Little is known whether the influence of social deprivation on suicide differs between urban and rural areas. This investigation aims to examine how social deprivation influences suicide mortality and to identify which related factors of deprivation have a higher potential to reduce suicide risk in urban and rural Queensland, Australia.

Methods

Suicide data from 2004 to 2008 were obtained from the Queensland Suicide Register. Age-standardized suicide rates (15+ years) and rate ratios, with a 95 % confidence interval, for 38 Statistical Subdivisions (SSDs) in Queensland were calculated. The influence of deprivation-related variables on suicide and their rural–urban difference were modelled by log-linear regression analyses through backward elimination.

Results

Among the 38 SSDs in Queensland, eight had a higher suicide risk while eleven had a lower rate. Working-age males (15–59 years) had the most pronounced geographic variation in suicide rate. In urban areas, suicide rates were positively associated with tenant households in public housing, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the unemployment rate and median individual income, but inversely correlated with younger age and households with no internet access. In rural areas, only tenant households in public housing and households with no internet access heightened the risk of suicide, while a negative association was found for younger and older persons, low-skilled workers or labourers, and families with low income and no cars.

Conclusions

The extent to which social deprivation contributes to suicide mortality varies considerably between rural and urban areas.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006) Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) July 2006 Catalogue No. 1216.0. http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/1216.0July%202011?OpenDocument. Assessed 14 Nov 2013

  2. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011) Census of Population and Housing: Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), Australia, 2011 Catalogue No. 2033.0.55.001. http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2033.0.55.001Main+Features12011?OpenDocument. Assessed 14 Nov 2013

  3. Ayala L, Navarro C (2007) The dynamics of housing deprivation. J Hous Econ 16:72–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Baum S (2008) Suburban scars: Australian cities and socio-economic deprivation: Report Paper 15. Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Brisbane, pp 1–67

  5. Biddle L, Donovan J, Hawton K, Kapur N, Gunnell D (2008) Suicide and the internet. BMJ 336:800–802

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Burnley IH (1995) Socioeconomic and spatial differentials in mortality and means of committing suicide in New South Wales, Australia, 1985–1991. Soc Sci Med 41(5):687–698

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Burrows S, LaFlamme L (2005) Living circumstances of suicide mortality in a South African city: an ecological study of differences across race groups and sexes. Suicide Life Threat Behav 35(5):592–603

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Cantor CH, Slater PJ, Najman JM (1995) Socioeconomic indices and suicide rate in Queensland. Aust N Z J Public Health 19(3):417–420

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Cantor CH, Slater PJ (1997) A regional profile of suicide in Queensland. Aust N Z J Public Health 21(2):181–186

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Carstairs V, Morris R (1989) Deprivation and mortality: an alternative to social class? Community Med 11:210–219

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Congdon P (1996) Suicide and para-suicide in London: a small area study. Urban Stud 33:137–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Congdon P (2013) Assessing the impact of socioeconomic variables on small area variations in suicide outcomes in England. Int J Environ Res Public Health 10(1):158–177. doi:10.3390/ijerph10010158

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. De Leo D, Sveticic J, Kumpula E-K (2013) Suicide in Queensland, 2008–2010: mortality rates and related data. Longueville Media, Brisbane

    Google Scholar 

  14. Department of the Environment (1983) Urban deprivation. Information Note No. 2. London Inner Cities Directorate, London, Department of the Environment

  15. Department of the Environment (1995) 1991 Deprivation Index: a review of approaches and a matrix of results. HMSO, London

    Google Scholar 

  16. Drever F, Whitehead M (1995) Mortality in regions and local authority districts in the 1990s: exploring the relationship with deprivation. Popul Trends 82:19–27

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Duguid G, Grant R (1983) Areas of special need in Scotland. Central Research Unit, Scottish Office, Edinburgh

    Google Scholar 

  18. Exeter DJ, Boyle PJ (2007) Does young adult suicide cluster geographically in Scotland? J Epidemiol Community Health 61(8):731–736. doi:10.1136/jech.2006.052365

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Gregory IN (2009) Comparisons between geographies of morality and deprivation from the 1900s and 2001: spatial analysis of census and mortality statistics. BMJ 339:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Ide N, Kolves K, Cassaniti M, De Leo D (2012) Suicide of first-generation immigrants in Australia, 1974–2006. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 47(12):1917–1927. doi:10.1007/s00127-012-0499-4

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Jarman B (1984) Underprivileged areas: validation and distribution of scores. BMJ 289:1587–1592

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Kennedy B, Firman D (2004) Indigenous SEIFA—revealing the ecological fallacy. In: Symposium conducted at the 12th biennial conference of the Australian Population Association, Canberra

  23. Law CK, Kolves K, De Leo D (2014) Suicide mortality in second-generation migrants, Australia, 2001–2008. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 49(4):601–608. doi:10.1007/s00127-013-0769-9

  24. Levin KA, Leyland AH (2005) Urban/rural inequalities in suicide in Scotland, 1981–1999. Soc Sci Med 60(12):2877–2890

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. McGrail M, Humphreys J (2009) Geographical classifications to guide rural health policy in Australia. Aust N Z Health Policy 6:28. doi:10.1186/1743-8462-6-28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. McLoone P, Boddy FA (1994) Deprivation and mortality in Scotland, 1981 and 1991. BMJ 309:1465–1470

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. McPhedran S, De Leo D (2013) Miseries suffered, unvoiced, unknown? Communication of suicidal intent by men in “Rural” Queensland, Australia. Suicide Life Threat Behav. doi:10.1111/sltb.12041

  28. Middleton N, Sterne JAC, Gunnell DJ (2008) An atlas of suicide mortality: England and Wales, 1988–1994. Health Place 14(3):492–506. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2007.09.007

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Milner A, Doessel D, Williams R, Arnautovska U, De Leo D (2012) Contextual influences on suicide in the metropolitan, regional and remote areas of Queensland (Chapter two). In: Kolves K, Milner A, McKay K, De Leo D (eds) Suicide in Rural and Remote Areas of Australia. Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, Brisbane, pp 19–42

    Google Scholar 

  30. Pampalon R, Hamel D, Gamache P, Philibert MD, Raymond G, Simpson A (2012) An area-based material and social deprivation index for public health in Québec and Canada. Can J Public Health 103(8 Suppl 2):S17–S22

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Qi X, Tong S, Hu W (2010) Spatial distribution of suicide in Queensland, Australia. BMC Psychiatry 10:106

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Rezaeian M, Dunn G, St Leger S, Appleby L (2005) The ecological association between suicide rates and indices of deprivation in English local authorities. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 40:785–791. doi:10.1007/s00127-005-0960-x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Saunders P (2005) The poverty wars: reconnecting research with reality. UNSW Press, Sydney

    Google Scholar 

  34. Saunders P, Naidoo Y, Griffiths M (2007) Towards new indicators of disadvantage: deprivation and social exclusion in Australia. Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, pp 1–107

  35. Singh G (2003) Area deprivation and widening inequalities in US mortality, 1969–1998. AJPH 93(7):1137–1143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Stark C, Hopkins P, Gibbs D, Rapson T, Belbin A, Hay A (2004) Trends in suicide in Scotland 1981–1999: age, method and geography. BMC Public Health 4. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-4-49

  37. Thompson S (1999) The internet and its potential influence on suicide. Psychiatric Bull 23:449–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Townsend P (1978) Deprivation. J Soc Policy 16:125–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Townsend P (1979) Poverty in United Kingdom. Penguin, Harmonswoth

    Google Scholar 

  40. Townsend P, Davidson N, Whitehead M (1988) Inequalities in health: the Black report and the health divide. Pengiun, Harmondsworth

    Google Scholar 

  41. The Area Based Analysis Unit (2009) Understanding patterns of deprivation. Reg Trends 41:93–114. doi:10.1057/rt.2009.7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Wilkins R (2007) The changing socio-demographic composition of poverty in Australia: 1982 to 2004 Working Paper No. 12/07. Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, Melbourne

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge financial support from the Australian Commonwealth Government, Department of Health. The Queensland Suicide Register is funded by Queensland Mental Health Commission. The authors thank Dr Delaney Skerrett, who assisted with the preparation and proof-reading of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, Mt Gravatt Campus, Griffith University, 176 Messines Ridge Road, Mt Gravatt, QLD, 4122, Australia

    Chi-kin Law, Anne-Marie Snider & Diego De Leo

  2. National Centre of Excellence in Suicide Prevention, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, Australia

    Chi-kin Law, Anne-Marie Snider & Diego De Leo

  3. WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, Australia

    Chi-kin Law, Anne-Marie Snider & Diego De Leo

Authors
  1. Chi-kin Law
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anne-Marie Snider
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Diego De Leo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chi-kin Law.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (XLSX 13 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Law, Ck., Snider, AM. & De Leo, D. The influence of deprivation on suicide mortality in urban and rural Queensland: an ecological analysis. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 49, 1919–1928 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0905-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0905-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation