Background: Suicide is a leading cause of mortality among youth globally. Evidence suggests that individuals with physical illness, mental illness, or neurodevelopmental disorders are at increased risk of suicide. However, few studies have estimated the prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among youth with compounding health burdens. The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts and their associations across morbidity status among youth in Canada.
Methods: Data come from 6,915 youth aged 15-17 years (49% female) enrolled in the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth. The person most knowledgeable or the youth themselves provided responses regarding sociodemographic characteristics, morbidity status, and indicators of suicide. The prevalence of suicidal ideation (past year) and suicide attempts (lifetime) were compared across morbidities (none, physical illness only, mental illness only, neurodevelopmental disorder only, and multimorbidity). Logistic regression models estimated adjusted associations between morbidity status and suicidal behaviour.
Results: Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts were most commonly reported by youth with mental illness only (32%, 18%) and multimorbidity (28%, 19%). While all morbidities were associated with indicators of suicide, the strongest association was found between multimorbidity and suicide attempts odds ratio = 5.2 (3.4, 8.0).
Conclusions: These contemporary estimates of youth in Canada suggest that suicidal ideation and suicide attempts are common and reinforce the need for integrated physical and mental health services for youth with multimorbidity to reduce the incidence. Research investigating causal mechanisms of the intersections between physical illness, mental illness, neurodevelopmental disorders, and suicide is needed.Plain Language Summary Title:Morbidity, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among youth in Canada.
Contexte:: Le suicide est l’une des principales causes de mortalité chez les jeunes dans le monde. Les données probantes indiquent que les personnes atteintes d’une maladie physique, d’une maladie mentale ou d’un trouble de neurodéveloppement courent un risque accru de suicide. Cependant, peu d’études ont estimé la prévalence des idées suicidaires et des tentatives de suicide chez les jeunes présentant des problèmes de santé aggravants. Cette étude vise à estimer la prévalence des idées suicidaires et des tentatives de suicide ainsi que leurs liens avec l’état de morbidité chez les jeunes au Canada.
Méthodes:: Les données proviennent de 6 915 jeunes âgés de 15 à 17 ans (49% de femmes) inscrits à l’Enquête canadienne sur la santé des enfants et des jeunes de 2019. La personne la mieux renseignée ou le jeune lui-même a fourni des réponses concernant les caractéristiques sociodémographiques, l’état de morbidité et les indicateurs de suicide. La prévalence des idées suicidaires (au cours de l’année écoulée) et des tentatives de suicide (au cours de la vie) a été comparée selon les morbidités (aucune, maladie physique seulement, maladie mentale seulement, trouble de neurodéveloppement seulement, multimorbidité). Des modèles de régression logistique ont permis d’estimer les associations ajustées entre l’état de morbidité et le comportement suicidaire.
Résultats:: Les idées suicidaires et les tentatives de suicide ont été le plus souvent signalées par les jeunes atteints d’une maladie mentale seulement (32%, 18%) et de multimorbidité (28%, 19%). Bien que toutes les morbidités aient été associées à des indicateurs de suicide, le lien le plus fort a été établi entre la multimorbidité et les tentatives de suicide RC = 5,2 (3,4, 8,0).
Conclusions:: Ces estimations contemporaines des jeunes au Canada indiquent que les idées suicidaires et les tentatives de suicide sont courantes et renforcent le besoin de services intégrés de santé physique et mentale pour les jeunes atteints de multimorbidité afin de réduire l’incidence. Des recherches sur les mécanismes de causalité entre la maladie physique, la maladie mentale, les troubles du neurodéveloppement et le suicide sont nécessaires.
Keywords: multimorbidity; physical illness; suicide; youth.
BackgroundSuicide is a leading cause of death among youth worldwide. Youth with physical, mental, or neurodevelopmental disorders are more likely to have suicidal behaviours. However, few studies assess how common suicidal behaviours are among youth with multiple disorders. The purpose of this study is to understand how to estimate how commonly suicidal behaviours occur among youth with different combinations of disorders in Canada.MethodsData come from 6,915 youth between the ages of 15 to 17 years (49% female) enrolled in the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth. The person most knowledgeable or the youth themselves provided responses on the youth's characteristics, disorders they experienced, and suicidal behaviours. Various suicidal behaviours such as suicidal ideation (past year) and suicide attempts (lifetime) were compared across different disorders. Statistical techniques were used to measure if childhood disorders were related to suicidal behaviours.ResultsSuicidal ideation and suicide attempts were most commonly reported by youth with mental illness only (32%, 18%) and youth with co-occurring physical, mental or neurodevelopmental disorders (28%, 19%). Youth with co-occurring physical, mental or neurodevelopmental disorders was strongly associated with suicide attempts.InterpretationOur findings highlight that suicidal behaviours are common among youth in Canada, and integrated services are needed to reduce suicide. Further studies are needed to understand increased risks among youth with co-occurring physical, mental or neurodevelopmental disorders.