Table 3.
Characteristics of cluster and non-cluster cases
| Youth suicide n (%) |
Adult suicide n (%) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cluster case | Non-cluster case | p-value | Cluster case | Non-cluster case | p-value | |
| Number | 53 | 887 | 137 | 5802 | ||
| Sex | 0.235 | 0.130 | ||||
| Female | 12 (22.6) | 269 (30.3) | 39 (28.5) | 1332 (23.0) | ||
| Male | 41 (77.4) | 618 (69.7) | 98 (71.5) | 4470 (77.0) | ||
| Suicide method | 0.478a | <0.001 | ||||
| Poisoning | 1 (1.9) | 33 (3.7) | 19 (13.9) | 865 (14.9) | ||
| Motor vehicle exhaust | 2 (3.8) | 39 (4.4) | 5 (3.7) | 505 (8.7) | ||
| Hanging | 46 (86.8) | 629 (70.9) | 69 (50.4) | 2956 (51.0) | ||
| Drowning | 0 | 6 (0.7) | 3 (2.2) | 110 (1.9) | ||
| Firearms | 1 (1.9) | 19 (2.1) | 4 (2.9) | 422 (7.3) | ||
| Cutting/piercing | 0 | 7 (0.8) | 4 (2.9) | 170 (2.9) | ||
| Jumping | 0 | 51 (5.8) | 17 (12.4) | 244 (4.2) | ||
| Other | 2 (3.8) | 71 (8.0) | 4 (2.9) | 305 (5.3) | ||
| Unknown | 1 (1.9) | 32 (3.6) | 12 (8.8) | 255 (3.9) | ||
| Marital status | 0.246a | 0.374 | ||||
| Never married | 39 (73.6) | 669 (75.4) | 23 (16.8) | 1087 (18.7) | ||
| Widowed/divorced/separated | 0 | 24 (2.7) | 48 (35.0) | 1764 (30.4) | ||
| Married (including de facto) | 10 (18.9) | 102 (11.5) | 42 (30.7) | 2258 (38.9) | ||
| Unknown | 4 (7.5) | 92 (10.4) | 24 (17.5) | 693 (11.9) | ||
| Employment status | 0.094 | 0.012 | ||||
| Employed | 18 (34.0) | 292 (32.9) | 50 (36.5) | 2344 (40.4) | ||
| Unemployed | 20 (37.7) | 216 (24.4) | 45 (32.9) | 1248 (21.5) | ||
| Not in the labour force | 11 (20.8) | 280 (31.6) | 32 (23.4) | 1558 (26.9) | ||
| Others (e.g., prisoner) | 1 (1.9) | 5 (10.6) | 2 (1.5) | 26 (0.5) | ||
| Unknown | 3 (5.7) | 94 (10.6) | 8 (5.8) | 626 (10.8) | ||
| Aboriginality | <0.001 | <0.001a | ||||
| Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander descent | 31 (58.5) | 116 (13.1) | 15 (11.0) | 195 (3.4) | ||
| Non-aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander descent | 21 (39.6) | 676 (76.2) | 105 (76.6) | 4911 (84.6) | ||
| Unknown | 1 (1.9) | 95 (10.7) | 17 (12.4) | 696 (12.0) | ||
aFisher’s exact test