Suicide rates among youth 10-19 years of age have remained steady or increased slightly over the last 15 years. Suicide follows motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of injury death in both males and females aged 10-19 years.(1) Injuries account for 67.7% of all deaths in this age group, while suicide alone accounts for 19.5% of the deaths. As suicide among children younger than 10 years old is exceedingly rare, this indicator is limited to older children and youth, aged 10-19 years. The suicide rate is the number of intentionally self-inflicted deaths per 100,000 population per year. In 1996, there were 271 (6.7 per 100,000) suicides in 10-19 years olds in Canada. Suicide starts to become significant among 10-14 year olds, with a rate of 2.0 per 100,000 overall (3.0/100,000 among males and 0.9/100,000 among females in 1996). It increases alarmingly among the 15-19 year olds, with an overall rate of 11.5/100,000 (18.4/100,000 among males and 4.2/100,000 among females in 1996). Although suicide deaths are more frequent in males, non-fatal self-inflicted injuries, many of which are suicide attempts, are more common in young females. Hospitalization rates for these self-inflicted injuries in 1995-96 were 192.8/100,000 for 10-19 year old females compared with 67.3/100,000 for males of the same age.(5) Suicide rates among First Nations in Canada are three to four times higher than the rate in the general population.(6) Unlike rates of death due to unintentional injury, suicide rates among 10-19 year olds have remained steady or increased slightly over the last 15 years, as illustrated in Figure 5.
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Note: Rates are standardized to the age distribution
of the 1991 Canadian population. |
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The methods used by 10-19 year olds to commit suicide include firearms, drugs, carbon monoxide poisoning and hanging. With the exception of hanging there is no marked trend in the method of suicide. During recent years, rates of suicide from hanging among 10-19 years olds increased from 2.2/100,000 in 1990 to 3.7/100,000 in 1996. It is also noteworthy that recent suicide rates for all-ages attributed to firearms were lower in Canada than in the United States (3.2/100,000 vs. 7.0/100,000).(3) Figure 6 compares Canada's suicide rate for all ages with rates from selected developed countries.(3)
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Note: Time periods for individual country rates differ.
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Data limitations Summary Unless referenced otherwise, suicide statistics are the product of the Bureau of Reproductive and Child Health, LCDC(1)
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Last Updated: 1999-06-16 |