Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to describe the trends and patterns of self-inflicted
injuries, available from Canadian administrative data between 1979 and 2014/15, in order to
inform and improve suicide prevention efforts.
Methods
Suicide mortality and hospital separation data were retrieved from the Public
Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) holdings of Statistics Canada’s Canadian Vital Statistics:
Death Database (CVS:D) (1979 to 2012); Canadian Socio-Economic Information Management
System (CANSIM 2011, 2012); the Hospital Morbidity Database (HMDB) (1994/95 to
2010/11); and the Discharge Abstract Database (2011/12 to 2014/15). Mortality and hospitalization
counts and rates were reported by sex, 5-year age groups and method.
Results
The Canadian suicide rate (males and females combined, all ages, age-sex standardized
rate) has decreased from 14.4/100 000 (n = 3355) in 1979 to 10.4/100 000 (n = 3926)
in 2012, with an annual percent change (APC) of –1.2% (95% CI: –1.3 to –1.0). However,
this trend was not observed in both sexes: female suicide rates stabilized around 1990, while
male rates continued declining over time—yet males still accounted for 75.7% of all suicides
in 2012. Suffocation (hanging and strangulation) was the primary method of suicide (46.9%)
among Canadians of all ages in 2012, followed by poisoning at 23.3%.
In the 2014/15 fiscal year, there were 13 438 hospitalizations in Canada (excluding Quebec)
associated with self-inflicted injuries—over 3 times the number of suicides. Over time
females have displayed consistently higher rates of hospitalization for self-inflicted injury
than males, with 63% of the total. Poisoning was reported as the most frequent means of
self-inflicted harm in the fiscal year 2014/15, at 86% of all hospitalizations.
Conclusion
Suicides and self-inflicted injuries continue to be a serious—but preventable—
public health problem that requires ongoing surveillance.