Table 2.
Comparison of psychological, social environment, and life event characteristics of suicides and deaths from other injuries in persons 15–24 years of age in China
| Variables | Suicide ( N=114 ) |
Death from other injuries ( N=91 ) |
Crude Odds Ratio ( 95% CI ) |
Adjusted Odds Ratio* ( 95% CI ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychological factors | ||||
| Chronic stress score in year before death** | ||||
| Lowest tertile (<12) | 20(17.5%) | 48(53.3%) | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Middle tertile (12–47) | 40(35.1%) | 28(31.1%) | 3.4(1.7–7.0) | 4.1(1.8–9.4) |
| Highest tertile (≥48) | 54(47.4%) | 14(15. 6%) | 9.3(4.2–20.3) | 11.9(4.8–29.9) |
| Acute stress score at time of death** | ||||
| Lowest tertile | 12(10.5%) | 58(64.4%) | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Middle tertile | 42(36.8%) | 24(26.7%) | 8.5(3.8–18.8) | 8.6(3.5–21.1) |
| Highest tertile | 60(52.6%) | 8(8.9%) | 36.3(13.8–95.1) | 37.0(12.4–110.2) |
| Had any depressive symptoms in two weeks before death | 65(57.0%) | 6(6.6%) | 18.8(7.6–46.6) | 23.6(8.7–64.3) |
| Met criteria of a psychiatric illness at time of death | 51(44.7%) | 10(11.1%) | 6.5(3.0–13.8) | 9.1(3.9–21.6) |
| Had ever sought help for a psychological problem | 18(15.8%) | 2(2.2%) | 8.3(1.9–37.0) | 7.8(1.7–36.2) |
| Used psychotropic medication in the month before death | 9(7.9%) | 1(1.1%) | 7.7(1.0–62.1) | 5.3(0.6–46.4) |
| Social environment | ||||
| Had made previous suicide attempt | 27(23.7%) | 0 | 57.5(3.5–957.8)*** | ------ |
| Had blood relative with suicidal behavior | 17(15.2%) | 4(4.5%) | 3.8(1.2–11.6) | 3.6(1.1–12.2) |
| Friends or associates had suicidal behavior | 37(33.0%) | 11(12.6%) | 3.4(1.6–7.2) | 3.9(1.7–8.8) |
| Low quality of life score in month before death (<66, range 0–100) | 82(71.9%) | 22(24.4%) | 7.9(4.2–14.9) | 10.7(5.0–23.2) |
| Decreased level of social activities in month before death | 16(14.0%) | 4(4.4%) | 3.6(1.1–11.0) | 2.9(0.8–10.1) |
| Lived alone | 9(7.9%) | 11(12.1%) | 0.6(0.2–1.6) | 0.9(0.3–2.5) |
| Deceased’s physical illness (if any) had negative effect on family members | 15(13.2%) | 2(2.2%) | 6.7(1.5–30.0) | 7.7(1.6–36.4) |
| Life events | ||||
| Number of chronic negative life events (lasting ≥1 year)** | ||||
| 0 | 31(27.2%) | 44(48.9%) | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| 1–2 | 42(36.8%) | 33(36.7%) | 1.8(0.9–3.5) | 2.0(1.0–4.3) |
| ≥3 | 41(36.0%) | 13(14.4%) | 4.5(2.1–9.7) | 5.3(2.2–13.0) |
| Experienced severe life event in the two days before death | 43(37.7%) | 5(5.6%) | 10.3(3.9–27.4) | 11.4(3.9–33.1) |
Because of rounding, not all percentages total 100.
*
Adjusted for sex and location of residence (villages vs cities/suburbs/towns).
**
The linear trend is statistically significant
***
In absence of prior attempts among controls, the OR was estimated by adding 0.5 to all 4 cells in the 2-by-2 table