Epidemiology of suicide after natural disasters: A review on the literature and a methodological framework for future studies

Authors

  • Mohsen Rezaeian, PhD, Epidemiologist

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/ajdm.2008.0007

Keywords:

suicide, natural disasters, epidemiology

Abstract

On one hand, there is an association between exposure to natural disasters and becoming mentally distressed, and on the other hand, there is also a relation between being mentally distressed and committing suicide; therefore, it is possible that one finds a relation between exposure to natural disasters and committing suicide. This review, therefore, will not only seek such relations in the literature but also try to highlight the most important methodological issues of finding such connection.

Author Biography

Mohsen Rezaeian, PhD, Epidemiologist

Associate Professor, Social Medicine Department, Rafsanjan Medical School, Rafsanjan, Kerman, Iran

References

Wisner B, Adams J: Environmental Health in Emergencies and Disasters: A practical guide.World Health Organization, Geneva, 2002: 9-23.

Noji EK: Disaster epidemiology. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 1996; 14: 289-300.

Bohannon EK: Disaster: Searching for lessons from a bad year. Science. 2005; 310: 1883.

Shaikh A, Musani A: Emergency preparedness and humanitarian action: The research deficit. Eastern Mediterranean Region perspective. East Mediterr Health J. 2006; S2: 54-63.

World Health Organization: The World Health Report 2001 Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope. Geneva, Switzerland:World Health Organization, 2001: 43.

Amos T, Appleby L: Suicide and deliberate self-harm. In Appleby L, Forshaw DM, Amos T, Barker H. (eds.) Postgraduate Psychiatry: Clinical and Scientific Foundations. London, Arnold, 2001: 347-357.

Harris EC, Barraclough B: Suicide as an outcome for mental disorders. A meta-analysis. Br J Psychiatry. 1997; 170: 205-228.

Roy AL: Suicide. In Sadock BJ, Sadock VA (eds.). Kaplan and Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2000: 2031-2040.

Fathalla MF, Fathalla MMF: A Practical Guide for Health Researchers. Cairo:WHO, 2004: 201.

Larrance R, Anastario M, Lawry L: Health status among internally displaced persons in Louisiana and Mississippi travel trailer parks. Ann Emerg Med. 2007; 49: 590-601.

Jani AA, Fierro M, Kiser S, et al.: Hurricane Isabel-related mortality-Virginia, 2003. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2006; 12: 97-102.

Yang CH, Xirasagar S, Chung HC, et al.: Suicide trends following the Taiwan earthquake of 1999: Empirical evidence and policy implications. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2005; 112: 442-448.

Nicholls N, Butler CD, Hanigan I: Inter-annual rainfall variations and suicide in New South Wales, Australia, 1964-2001. Int J Biometeorol. 2006; 50: 139-143.

Chou YJ, Huang N, Lee CH, et al.: Suicides after the 1999 Taiwan earthquake. Int J Epidemiol. 2003; 32: 1007-1014.

Krug EG, Kresnow MJ, Peddicord JP, et al.: Suicide after natural disasters. N Engl J Med. 1998; 338: 373-378.

Lew EO,Wetli CV: Mortality from Hurricane Andrew. J Forensic Sci. 1996; 41: 449-452.

Krug EG, Kresnow MJ, Peddicord JP, et al.: Retraction: Suicide after natural disasters. N Eng J Med. 1999; 340: 148-149.

Shoaf K, Sauter C, Bourque LB, et al.: Suicides in Los Angeles County in relation to the Northridge earthquake. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2004; 19: 307-310.

Chou FH,Wu HC, Chou P, et al.: Epidemiologic psychiatric studies on post-disaster impact among Chi-Chi earthquake survivors in Yu-Chi,Taiwan. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2007; 61: 370-378.

Vehid HE, Alyanak B, Eksi A: Suicide ideation after the 1999 earthquake in Marmara, Turkey. Tohoku J Exp Med. 2006; 208: 19-24.

Warheit GJ, Zimmerman RS, Khoury EL, et al.: Disaster related stresses, depressive signs and symptoms, and suicidal ideation among a multi-racial/ethnic sample of adolescents: A longitudinal analysis. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1996; 37: 435-444.

Kessler RC, Galea S, Jones RT, et al.: Mental illness and suicidality after Hurricane Katrina. Bull World Health Organ. 2006; 84: 930-939.

Ahern M,Kovats RS,Wilkinson P, et al.: Global health impacts of floods: Epidemiologic evidence. Epidemiol Rev. 2005; 27: 36-46.

He ZX: A suicide belt in China: The Yangtze basin. Arch Suicide Res. 1998; 4: 287-289.

Shultz JM, Russell J, Espinel Z: Epidemiology of tropical cyclones: The dynamics of disaster, disease, and development. Epidemiol Rev. 2005; 27: 21-35.

Rezaeian M: Epidemiological approaches to disasters and emergencies within Middle Eastern Region. Middle East J Emerg Med. 2007; 7: 54-56.

Lu TH: Earthquake and suicide: Bringing context back into disaster epidemiological studies. Int J Epidemiol. 2004; 33: 1406-1409.

Chou FH, Wu HC, Chou P, et al.: Earthquake and suicide: Epidemiologic psychiatric studies on post-disaster impact among Chi-Chi earthquake survivors in Yu-Chi, Taiwan. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2007; 61: 370-378.

Goenjian AK, Molina L, Steinberg AM, et al.: Posttraumatic stress and depressive reactions among Nicaraguan adolescents after hurricane Mitch. Am J Psychiatry. 2001; 158: 788-794.

David D, Mellman TA, Mendoza LM, et al.: Psychiatric morbidity following Hurricane Andrew. J Trauma Stress. 1996; 9: 607-612.

Norris FH, Perilla JL, Riad JK, et al.: Stability and change in stress, resources, and psychological distress following natural disaster: Findings from Hurricane Andrew. Anxiety Stress Coping. 1999; 12: 363-396.

Armenian HK, Morikawa M, Melkonian AK, et al.: Loss as a determinant of PTSD in a cohort of adult survivors of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia: Implications for policy. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2000; 102: 58-64.

Ramirez M, Peek-Asa C: Epidemiology of traumatic injuries from earthquakes. Epidemiol Rev. 2005; 27: 47-55.

Galea S, Nandil A, Vlahov D: The epidemiology of post-traumatic stress disorder after disasters. Epidemiol Rev. 2005; 27: 78-91.

Rezaeian M: The application of GPS in human disasters within the Middle East. Middle East J Emerg Med. 2006; 6: 39-40.

Noji EK: Public health issues in disasters. Crit Care Med. 2005; 33: S29-S33.

Cannon M, Huttunen M, Murray R: The developmental epidemiology of psychiatric disorders. In Tsuang MT, Tohen M (eds.). Text Book in Psychiatric Epidemiology. New York:Wiley-Liss, 2002: 239-255.

Dominici F, Levy JI, Louis TA: Methodological challenges and contributions in disaster epidemiology. Epidemiol Rev. 2005; 27: 9-12.

Dooley D, Catalano R, Rook K, et al.: Economic stress and suicide: Multilevel analyses. Part 1: Aggregate time-series analyses of economic stress and suicide. Part 2: Cross-level analyses of economic stress and suicidal ideation. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 1989; 19: 321.

Verheij RA: Explaining urban-rural variations in health: A review of interactions between individual and environment. Soc Sci Med. 1996; 42: 923-935.

Morgenstern H: Ecological studies. In Rothman KJ, Greenland S (eds.). Modern Epidemiology. Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven Publisher, 1998: 459-480.

Rezaeian M, Dunn G, St. Leger S, et al.: Geographical epidemiology, spatial analysis and geographical information systems: A multidisciplinary glossary. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007; 61: 98-102.

Rothman KJ, Greenland S: Cohort studies. In Rothman KJ, Greenland S (eds.). Modern Epidemiology. Philadelphia: Lippincott- Raven Publisher, 1998: 79-91.

Feng S, Tan H, Benjamin A, et al.: Social support and posttraumatic stress disorder among flood victims in Hunan, China. Ann Epidemiol. 2007; 17: 827-833.

Phifer JF, Kaniasty KZ, Norris FH: The impact of natural disaster on the health of older adults: A multi-wave prospective study. J Health Soc Behav. 1988; 29: 65-78.

Beautrais AL: Suicide in Asia. Crisis. 2006; 27: 55-57.

Lester D: Suicide and Islam. Arch Suicide Res. 2006; 10: 77-97.

Rezaeian M: The age and sex suicide pattern in the Eastern Mediterranean region based on the global burden of disease estimates for 2000. East Mediterr Health J. 2007; 13: 10-17.

Pridmore S, Pasha MI: Psychiatry and Islam. Austr Psychiatry. 2004; 12: 380-385.

Yasamy MT, Shahmohammadi D, Yazdi SAB: Mental health in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Achievements and areas of need. East Mediterr Health J. 2001; 7: 381-391.

Schnitzer JJ, Briggs SM: Earthquake relief—The US medical response in Bam, Iran. N Engl J Med. 2004; 350: 1174-1176.

Ustün TB, Ayuso-Mateos JL, Chatterji S, et al.: Global burden of depressive disorder in the year 2000. Br J Psychiatry. 2004; 184: 386-392.

Downloads

Published

01/01/2008

How to Cite

Rezaeian, PhD, Epidemiologist, M. “Epidemiology of Suicide After Natural Disasters: A Review on the Literature and a Methodological Framework for Future Studies”. American Journal of Disaster Medicine, vol. 3, no. 1, Jan. 2008, pp. 52-56, doi:10.5055/ajdm.2008.0007.

Issue

Section

Review Articles