Interventions to reduce suicides at suicide hotspots: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Pirkis, Jane; Too, Lay San; Spittal, Matthew J; Krysińska, Karolina; Robinson, Jo; Cheung, Yee Tak Derek

doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(15)00266-7

Cited by 146 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Although we certainly agree that mental illness is an important factor in suicide and that individual factors ranging from poverty to religious affiliation might have an important role in the development of suicidal desire in many individuals, our results indicate that such factors alone do not explain the association between guns and suicide. Our findings are thus highly consistent with the robust literature base supporting the utility of means safety in suicide prevention (Anestis & Anestis, ; Anestis et al., ; Kreitman, ; Oliver & Hetzel, ; Pirkis et al., ). Furthermore, our results provide a rebuttal to the notion of means substitution (Daigle, ), as gun ownership predicted overall state suicide rates, not simply firearm suicide rates.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The Association Between Gun Ownership and Statewide Overall Suicide Rates

Anestis

Houtsma

2017

Suicide & Life Threat Behav

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An extensive body of research has demonstrated an association between gun ownership and suicide that extends beyond the effects of a range of covariates. We aimed to expand on extant research by examining the extent to which gun ownership predicts statewide overall suicide rates beyond the effects of demographic, geographic, religious, psychopathological, and suicide-related variables. By extending the list of covariates utilized, considering those covariates simultaneously, and using more recent data, we sought to present a more stringent test. Gun ownership predicted statewide overall suicide rates, with the full model accounting for more than 92% of the variance in statewide suicide rates. The correlation between firearm suicide rates and the overall suicide rate was significantly stronger than the correlation between nonfirearm suicide rates and the overall suicide rate. These findings support the notion that access to and familiarity with firearms serves as a robust risk factor for suicide. Therefore, means safety efforts aimed at reducing accessibility and increasing safe storage of firearms would likely have a dramatic impact on statewide overall suicide rates.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The Association Between Gun Ownership and Statewide Overall Suicide Rates

Anestis

Houtsma

2017

Suicide & Life Threat Behav

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“…A considerable amount of work has been done on preventing suicide at suicide hotspots, and three interventions show particular promise (ie, restricting access to means, encouraging help seeking and increasing the likelihood of intervention by a third party) 33 34. Restricting access to mean has been shown to be successful in places such as the stations in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea,35–38 but may be difficult in places where the majority of cluster-related railway suicides occur on open tracks (as shown in our study).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Railway suicide clusters: how common are they and what predicts them?

et al. 2016

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Railway suicides that occur in clusters warrant particular attention because of the ripple effect they can have for communities and the risk that they may lead to copycat acts. Railway suicide prevention strategies should consider the fact that these suicides can occur in clusters, particularly among individuals who had previous hospitalisations for mental illness or live in areas with high-frequency train services.

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“…Some interventions have been shown to effectively reduce rail suicides (Pirkis et al, ; Too, Milner, Bugeja, & McClure, ). These include installation of physical barriers at rail stations (Chung, Kang, Matsubayashi, Sawada, & Ueda, ; Law et al ; Ueda, Sawada, & Matsubayashi, ; Xing, Lu, & Chen, ) and appropriate media reporting (Niederkrotenthaler & Sonneck, ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The “Train the trainers” program in Germany and the “Contact with a (possibly) suicidal person” program in the Netherlands were designed to train rail personnel in how to intervene with people who might be at risk of suicide (Havarneanu, Bonneau, & Colliard, ). Although encouraging help‐seeking by installing signage displaying crisis helpline numbers has been shown to reduce suicides at some hot spot locations (e.g., US Mid‐Hudson bridge, England New Forest, Sydney Gap Park, and Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau) (Pirkis et al, ), this intervention has not been implemented within rail environment.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of the “Pause. Call. Be Heard” Campaign on Help‐Seeking and Suicidal Behaviors Within Rail Environment in Victoria, Australia

Too

Ross

Pirkis

et al. 2019

Suicide & Life Threat Behav

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Objective To assess the impact of the “Pause. Call. Be Heard” campaign on help‐seeking and suicidal behaviors within rail environment in Victoria, Australia. Methods An anonymous online survey was conducted to measure noticeability of and engagement with the campaign and help‐seeking intentions and behaviors among rail commuters at 10 rail stations. We generated descriptive statistics to report these data and used logistic regression models to examine the association between campaign‐related factors and help‐seeking. Changes in Lifeline crisis calls and rail suicide behaviors from precampaign to campaign periods were examined using proportion tests. Results About 25% of rail commuters noticed the campaign and rated the materials as “moderately noticeable.” Over half of these individuals correctly identified the campaign intentions and 75% engaged with the materials. Approximately 80% indicated that the materials increased their help‐seeking intentions and about half indicated that they had engaged with help‐seeking and/or self‐caring behaviors. Engaging with the campaign was positively associated with help‐seeking. A significant increase in crisis calls but not in suicide‐related calls, and a nonsignificant decrease in rail suicidal behaviors were found during the campaign period. Conclusions Continued implementation of the campaign is warranted as it showed some desirable effects on help‐seeking among rail commuters.

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Interventions to reduce suicides at suicide hotspots: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Cited by 146 publications

References 38 publications

The Association Between Gun Ownership and Statewide Overall Suicide Rates

The Association Between Gun Ownership and Statewide Overall Suicide Rates

Railway suicide clusters: how common are they and what predicts them?

The Impact of the “Pause. Call. Be Heard” Campaign on Help‐Seeking and Suicidal Behaviors Within Rail Environment in Victoria, Australia

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