TY - JOUR
T1 - Suicide rates in the national and expatriate population in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
AU - Dervic, Kanita
AU - Amiri, Leena
AU - Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas
AU - Yousef, Said
AU - Salem, Mohamed O.
AU - Voracek, Martin
AU - Sonneck, Gernot
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Dubai Police General Headquarters for providing the data on suicide. This study was supported by the seed grant to Dr Dervic by the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, United Arab Emirates University.
PY - 2012/11
Y1 - 2012/11
N2 - Background: Reports on suicide from the Gulf region are scarce. Dubai is a city with a large expatriate population. However, total and gender-specific suicide rates for the national and expatriate populations are not known. Aims: To investigate total and gender-specific suicide rates in the national and expatriate population in Dubai and to elicit socio-demographic characteristics of suicide victims. Methods: Registered suicides in Dubai from 2003 to 2009, and aggregated socio-demographic data of suicide victims were analysed. Suicide rates per 100,000 population were calculated. Results: Suicide rate among expatriates (6.3/100,000) was seven times higher than the rate among the nationals (0.9/100,000). In both groups, male suicide rate was more than three times higher than the female rate. Approximately three out of four expatriate suicides were committed by Indians. The majority of suicide victims were male, older than 30 years, expatriate, single and employed, with an education of secondary school level and below. Conclusion: Further research on risk factors for and protective factors against suicide, particularly among the expatriate population, is needed. Epidemiological monitoring of suicide trends at the national level and improvement of UAE suicide statistics would provide useful information for developing suicide prevention strategies.
AB - Background: Reports on suicide from the Gulf region are scarce. Dubai is a city with a large expatriate population. However, total and gender-specific suicide rates for the national and expatriate populations are not known. Aims: To investigate total and gender-specific suicide rates in the national and expatriate population in Dubai and to elicit socio-demographic characteristics of suicide victims. Methods: Registered suicides in Dubai from 2003 to 2009, and aggregated socio-demographic data of suicide victims were analysed. Suicide rates per 100,000 population were calculated. Results: Suicide rate among expatriates (6.3/100,000) was seven times higher than the rate among the nationals (0.9/100,000). In both groups, male suicide rate was more than three times higher than the female rate. Approximately three out of four expatriate suicides were committed by Indians. The majority of suicide victims were male, older than 30 years, expatriate, single and employed, with an education of secondary school level and below. Conclusion: Further research on risk factors for and protective factors against suicide, particularly among the expatriate population, is needed. Epidemiological monitoring of suicide trends at the national level and improvement of UAE suicide statistics would provide useful information for developing suicide prevention strategies.
KW - Dubai
KW - UAE
KW - expatriates
KW - nationals
KW - suicide
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U2 - 10.1177/0020764011430038
DO - 10.1177/0020764011430038
M3 - Article
C2 - 22169999
AN - SCOPUS:84868152823
SN - 0020-7640
VL - 58
SP - 652
EP - 656
JO - International Journal of Social Psychiatry
JF - International Journal of Social Psychiatry
IS - 6
ER -