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Environmental Health 2009
Preliminary spatiotemporal analysis of the association between socio-environmental factors and suicideAbstract: Seasonal data on suicide, demographic variables and socioeconomic indexes for areas in each Local Government Area (LGA) between 1999 and 2003 were acquired from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Climate data were supplied by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. A multivariable generalized estimating equation model was used to examine the impact of socio-environmental factors on suicide.The preliminary data analyses show that far north Queensland had the highest suicide incidence (e.g., Cook and Mornington Shires), while the south-western areas had the lowest incidence (e.g., Barcoo and Bauhinia Shires) in all the seasons. Maximum temperature, unemployment rate, the proportion of Indigenous population and the proportion of population with low individual income were statistically significantly and positively associated with suicide. There were weaker but not significant associations for other variables.Maximum temperature, the proportion of Indigenous population and unemployment rate appeared to be major determinants of suicide at a LGA level in Queensland.Suicide is one of the major causes of mortality around the world with about 877,000 suicide deaths each year globally [1]. Socio-environmental impacts on mental health, including suicide, have drawn increasing research attention, especially in recent years as global socio-environmental conditions change rapidly [2,3].A number of studies have examined the impact of meteorological factors on suicide and found that lower suicide rates were associated with increased rainfall [4], decreased temperature [5], decreased humidity [6], and increased sunshine [7]. Additionally, some studies indicated that suicide rates varied with season [8,9]. Socioeconomic status [10,11], unemployment rate [12-14], country of birth [15,16], governmental policy [17,18] and intervention [19,20] were also associated with suicide in different countries and areas.Most of the previous suicide studies have focused on either meteorological or so
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