New study shows what factors contribute to higher suicide rates
CTV
A first of its kind CAMH study finds Canada has the 6th highest suicide rate of the 33 countries examined from North, Central and South America between 2000 to 2019.
Warning: This contains references to suicide.
Canada ranks in the top 10 of highest suicide rates in the Americas, a new study by Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) study found.
According to the research, Canadian men and women had the 6th highest suicide rate in 2019 out of the 33 countries examined in North, Central and South America.
Within the Americas in 2019, Guyana had the highest suicide mortality rate for both males (64.96 per 100,000 population) and females (16.95 per 100,000 population), while Barbados had the lowest rate (males: 0.48 per 100,000 population; females: 0.16 per 100,000 population).
The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas on Feb. 23, is the “first of its kind” to examine specific contextual factors associated with national suicide rates in the Americas.
Using health data from the World Health Organization Global Health Estimates, researchers found eight population-level factors impacting suicide rates.
According to the research, alcohol use, education inequality, health expenditure, homicide rate, intravenous drug use, number of employed doctors, population density and unemployment rate affect a region's suicide rate.
