Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep;49(9):3000605211003452.
doi: 10.1177/03000605211003452.

Suicide in French Polynesia: a retrospective analysis based on medicolegal documents and interview with family

Stephane Amadéo  1   2   3   4 , Moerani Rereao  1   2 , Germaine Vanquin David  2 , NgocLam Nguyen  5 , Monique Séguin  6   7 , Guy Beauchamp  7 , Patrick Favro  8 , Heimana Trouche  9 , Aurélia Malogne  1   2 , Benjamin Goodfellow  10 , Erick Gokalsing  3   11 , Michel Spodenkiewicz  3   12 , Aminata Sy  13   14 , Yvana Bocage-Barthélémy  1 , Johan Sebti  1 , Annie Tuheiava  2 , Louis Jehel  3   4 , Diego De Leo  15
Affiliations

Suicide in French Polynesia: a retrospective analysis based on medicolegal documents and interview with family

Stephane Amadéo et al. J Int Med Res. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: To analyse the epidemiological data on suicide in French Polynesia (FP).

Methods: Data on suicides were collected from the Public Health Direction, Judicial Police Investigations Court of Justice records, the Centre d'Opérations et de Renseignements de la Gendarmerie, patient records for those hospitalized in psychiatry and from psychological autopsies.

Results: The dataset consisted of 316 suicide cases in FP over 25 years (1992-2016). In FP, suicide was more frequent in men (sex ratio 3.2:1), young people (mean age, 34.4 years) and individuals with previously diagnosed psychiatric disorders (100 of 316; 31.6%) The most common method of suicide was hanging (276 of 316; 87.3%). A history of previous suicide attempts was found in 25 of 56 (44.6%) of suicide cases, when documented. The most common potential triggering factors for suicide were emotional problems. The suicide rates have remained stable during 1992-2016 (mean 10.6/100 000 inhabitants per year), with periods of economic crises increasing suicide rates.

Conclusions: These results provide valuable information to enable the effective targeting of suicide prevention strategies toward those at high risk. Economic crises had larger impacts in the French overseas territories than mainland France. Given the unprecedented economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in FP, there is an urgent need to implement suicide epidemiological surveillance and prevention programmes.

Keywords: COVID-19; French Polynesia; Suicide mortality; psychological autopsy; social crisis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interest: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Age-standardized suicide rates in French Polynesia between 1992 and 2016 stratified according to sex. The colour version of this figure is available at: http://imr.sagepub.com.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Suicide rates in French Polynesia between 2013 and 2016 stratified according to age group (Source: Public Health Direction). The colour version of this figure is available at: http://imr.sagepub.com.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Crude suicide rates in French Polynesia, mainland France and the French overseas territories between 2000 and 2016. The colour version of this figure is available at: http://imr.sagepub.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Pirkis J, Amadéo S, Beautrais A, et al.. Suicide Prevention in the Western Pacific Region. Crisis 2020; 41(Suppl 1): S80–S98. DOI:10.1027/0227-5910/a000670. - PubMed
    1. De Leo D, Milner A, Fleischmann A, et al.. The WHO START study: suicidal behaviors across different areas of the world. Crisis 2013; 34: 156–163. DOI: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000193. - PubMed
    1. Amadéo S, Rereao M, Malogne A, et al.. Testing Brief Intervention and Phone Contact among Subjects with Suicidal Behavior: A Randomized Controlled Trial in French Polynesia in the Frames of the World Health Organization/Suicide Trends in At-Risk Territories Study. Ment Illn 2015; 7: 5818. DOI: 10.4081/mi.2015.5818. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Amadéo S, Kolves K, Malogne A, et al.. Non-fatal suicidal behaviours in French Polynesia: Results of the WHO/START study and its implications for prevention. J Affect Disord 2016; 189: 351–356. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.09.042. - PubMed
    1. Yen Kai Sun L. Caractéristiques épidémiologiques de la mortalité par suicide en Polynésie française, 2005–2010. BISES 2015; 15: 1–3 [Article in French].