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INTENTIONAL SELF-HARM [SUICIDE] (X60-X84,Y87.0)

Care should be taken in using and interpreting Suicide data contained in this publication. For further information refer to Explanatory Notes 72-75.

The implementation of process improvements for 2008 preliminary data has resulted in improved quality in relation to assigning unspecified cause codes to coroner certified deaths. As a large number of coroner cases are due to External causes of death, these process improvements have had the effect of improving these data, including Suicide data. See Technical Note 1: 2008 COD Collection - Process Improvements for further information.

There were 2,191 deaths coded to Suicide (X60-X84, Y87.0) in 2008. Deaths from Suicide represented 1.5% of all registered deaths and 25% of all External causes of death in 2008. More than three times as many males as females died from Suicide in 2008, continuing the trend of the 10 years since 1999. The median age at death for Suicide was 42.7 years. Median age at death for males was 42.5 years, compared with 43.5 years for females.

For further information on deaths due to Suicide, see Chapter 6 in this publication.

4.23 SELECTED UNDERLYING CAUSES(a), Intentional Self-Harm (Suicide) (X60-X84, X87.0) - 2008(b)(c)(d)
		Males	Females	Persons	Proportion of all deaths
Cause of Death and ICD Code		no.	no.	no.	%
Intentional self-harm (X60-X84, Y87.0)(e)		1 710	481	2 191	1.5
	Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, antiparkinsonism and psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classified (X61)	34	23	57	-
	Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to narcotics and psychodysleptics (hallucinogens), not elsewhere classified (X62)	18	5	23	-
	Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substances (X64)	81	89	170	0.1
	Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other gases and vapours (X67)	187	33	220	0.2
	Intentional self-harm by hanging, strangulation and suffocation (X70)	947	204	1 151	0.8
	Intentional self-harm by drowning and submersion (X71)	33	12	45	-
	Intentional self-harm by rifle, shotgun and larger firearm discharge (X73)	100	1	104	0.1
	Intentional self-harm by other and unspecified firearm discharge (X74)	46	5	51	-
	Intentional self-harm by sharp object (X78)	31	12	43	-
	Intentional self-harm by jumping from a high place (X80)	87	34	121	0.1
	Intentional self-harm by jumping or lying before moving object (X81)	48	13	61	-
	Intentional self-harm by crashing of motor vehicle (X82)	14	6	20	-
	Intentional self-harm by unspecified means (X84)	22	13	35	-
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Causes selected are those with 20 or more deaths at the 3 digit level of ICD-10.
(b) 2008 data have been subject to process improvements which have increased the quality of these data. See Technical Note 1: 2008 COD Collection - Process Improvements for further information.
(c) Causes of death data for 2008 are preliminary and subject to a revisions process. See Technical Note 2: Causes of Death - Revisions Process.
(d) Data cells with small values have been randomly assigned to protect the confidentiality of individuals. As a result, some totals will not equal the sum of their components. It is important to note that cells with a zero value have not been affected by confidentialisation.
(e) Includes Sequelae of suicide (Y87.0). Care needs to be taken in interpreting figures relating to Suicide due to limitations of the data, see Explanatory Notes 72-75.