SUICIDE in RURAL & REMOTE AREAS of AUSTRALIA - Living is for ...

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Suicide in rural and remote areas of Australia
Life events in the 12-months preceding the death
included work, fi nances, relationships, family, health,
legal events and bereavement.
Tests:
Considering that interactions between people are
a complex phenomenon, the present study used
the Bille-Brahe Social Support Scale, which brings
out different dimensions of these interactions,
such as receiving and giving practical and moral
support to and from family and friends (Bille-Brahe
& Jensen, 2004).
To measure personality, the NEO Five-Factor
Inventory (NEO-FFI) was applied. The NEO-FFI is a
shortened version of the NEO PI-R, designed to give
quick, reliable and valid measures of the fi ve domains
of the adult personality (Neuroticism, Extraversion,
Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness;
Costa & McCrae, 1992). The 60 items are rated on
a fi ve-point scale (0 to 4).
Statistical approach
To analyse the predicting variables of suicide,
compared to sudden-death controls, separately for
rural and urban regions, odds ratios (OR) with 95%
confi dence interval (CI) were used for categorical
variables. To compare continuous variables in
two groups, t-tests were applied. To compare the
differences between the urban and rural suicide
groups, Chi-square tests (χ²) were applied for
categorical variables. When calculating OR’s or χ²
in sub-groups with small numbers (fewer than 4),
Fisher’s exact test was used. A probability level of
0.05 was employed for all statistical tests. SPSS
version 17.0 was used for data analyses.
Overt Aggression Scale was applied to assess
aggression (higher scores indicate to greater level
of aggression; Yudofsky et al, 1986).
Information on Physical Health Status was obtained
using standardised scales: The Cumulative Illness
Rating Scale (higher scores indicate greater
impairment; Linn et al, 1968); Instrumental Activities
of Daily Living Scale (higher scores indicate greater
impairment; this scale is applicable to elderly
patients; Lawton & Brody, 1969) and Physical Self
Maintenance Scale (higher scores indicate greater
impairment; Lawton & Brody, 1969).
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