Suicide bereavement: piloting a longitudinal study in Australia

Objectives: The pilot study were (1) to test the technical and administrative feasibility of a full-scale study, including recruitment process, response and retention rate, questionnaire design for an investigation to improve understanding of the suicide bereavement processes compared with bereavement by sudden deaths and (2) to present the differences and changes in the main outcomes—grief reactions of close relatives exposed to suicide and sudden death over 2 years. Design: A longitudinal prospective study comparing bereavement by suicide to other types of sudden deaths over time (6, 12 and 24 months). Setting: Queensland, Australia. Participants: 25 suicide-bereaved and 15 sudden-death-bereaved persons. Outcome measures: Grief reactions (measured with the Grief Experience Questionnaire). Results: The response rate was 52.1% in the suicide bereaved and 45.5% in the sudden-death group. There was a small number of dropouts, with the retention rate over 85% for both groups. Linear mixed modelling for repeated measures showed a significant group effect (higher in suicide bereaved) for total grief, responsibility, rejection and unique reactions. A significant time effect (reduction) was measured for total grief, somatic reactions, general grief reactions and search for explanation. One significant time and group interaction was measured; rejection showed a decline in suicide and an increase in sudden-death bereaved. Conclusions: The pilot study presented the appropriateness of the study methodology. This type of study has implications for counselling and treating people bereaved by suicide and for designing postvention activities.Griffith Health, Australian Institute for Suicide Research & PreventionFull Tex

Suicides among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations in Australia

Introduction Sexual orientation is seldom recorded at death in Australia, and to date there have been no studies on the relationship between those that have died by suicide and sexuality or minority gender identity in Australia. The aim of the present study is to determine whether or not lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), and intersex individuals who die by suicide constitute a unique subpopulation of those who die by suicide, when compared with non-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex suicide deaths. Methods The Queensland Suicide Register holds records of all suicides in Queensland since 1990. All cases from 2000 to 2009 (inclusive; a total of 5,966 cases) were checked for potential indicators of individuals' sexual orientation and gender identification. A total of 35 lesbian (n?=?10), gay (n?=?22), bisexual (n?=?2), and transgender (n?=?1) suicide cases were identified. Three comparison cases of non-LGBT suicides for each LGBT suicide were then located, matched by age and gender. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Results It was significantly more likely that depression was mentioned in the cases of LGBT suicides than in non-LGBT cases. While 12.4% of the comparison group had been diagnosed with psychotic disorders, there were no such diagnoses among LGBT individuals. LGBT individuals experienced relationship problems more often, with relationship conflict also being more frequent than in non-LGBT cases. Discussion Despite its limitations, this study - the first of its kind in Australia - seems to indicate that LGBT people would require targeted approaches in mental and general health services.Griffith Health, Australian Institute for Suicide Research & PreventionNo Full Tex