Almost 1 in 3 suicides weren't counted in Census

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-12-21 06:00

New Zealand

NZ researchers have found that just under a third of suicide deaths weren’t counted in Census data. It's a far higher proportion than the 2.4% of Kiwis overall who aren't counted in the Census - suggesting people who die by suicide are undercounted prior to death. The research also found people who died from suicide were more likely to have contacted primary healthcare in the past six months. This link between health service contact and greater odds of suicide suggests an opportunity to focus on identifying people in crisis.

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From:

Journal/
conference: PLOS ONE

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Auckland

Funder: This work was supported by the Health Research Councilof New Zealand.Grant Number:13/428 – Exeter: Delivering a new measureof neighbourhooddisadvantage for New Zealand. Funder:Health Research Councilof New Zealand. https://www.hrc.govt.nz/ The funder did not play any role in the study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.AC was supported by The Kate Edger EducationalCharitable Trust Masters Degree Award. Funder:The Kate Edger EducationalCharitable Trust. https://www. kateedgertrust-suffrage125.nz/ The funder did not play any role in the study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. Thoughif the original wording is requiredPLOS One publication standards, then we would be happy for this to remain the unchanged.

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