Table 3.
Multivariate model of risk factors for 15–24-year-old youth suicide in China comparing 114 suicides and 90 deaths from other injuries*
| Variables | Adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) |
|---|---|
| Lived in villages (vs. cities, suburbs or towns) | 3.4 (0.9–12.3) |
| Experienced severe life event in the two days before death | 31.8 (2.6–390.6) |
| Had any depressive symptoms in two weeks prior to death | 21.1 (4.6–97.2) |
| Low quality of life score in month before death(<66,range 0–100) | 9.7 (2.8–34.1) |
| Acute stress score at time of death** | |
| Lowest tertile | 1.0 |
| Middle tertile | 3.1 (0.8–11.9) |
| Highest tertile | 9.1 (1.2–66.8) |
| Gender*** (female vs male) | |
| Did not meet criteria of a psychiatric illness at time of death | 54.6 (9.5–315.6) |
| Met criteria of a psychiatric illness at time of death | 1.3 (0.1–12.8) |
| Met criteria of a psychiatric illness at time of death | 4.7 (1.2–18.6) |
| Female | 0.3 (0.0–3.6) |
| Male | 14.0 (2.6–76.5) |
Prior suicide attempt was not considered in the multivariate model because none of the control decedents had prior attempts. Nagelkerke R2 for the model is 0.806 and the C statistic is 0.966.
The linear trend is statistically significant
There is a significant interaction between gender and diagnosis (Wald z=5.80, p=0.016), so the table presents stratified results. For the gender variable, among those without a diagnosis the risk of suicide is 54.6 times higher in women than men (p<0.001), but among those with a diagnosis the risk of suicide is not significantly related to gender (OR=1.3, p=0.837). Similarly, for the ‘met criteria of a psychiatric illness at time of death’ variable, among females the risk of suicide is, surprisingly, not significantly associated with diagnostic status (OR=0.3, p=0.361), but among males the risk of suicide is 14 times higher in those with a diagnosis (p=0.002).