title: Estimating Suicide Rates in Developing Nations: A Low-Cost Newspaper Capture-Recapture Approach in Cambodia.
abstract: This study tested a low-cost method for estimating suicide rates in developing nations that lack adequate statistics. Data comprised reported suicides from Cambodia's 2 largest newspapers. Capture-recapture modeling estimated a suicide rate of 3.8/100 000 (95% CI = 2.5-6.7) for 2012. That compares to World Health Organization estimates of 1.3 to 9.4/100 000 and a Cambodian government estimate of 3.5/100 000. Suicide rates of males were twice that of females, and rates of those <40 years were twice that of those ≥40 years. Capture-recapture modeling with newspaper reports proved a reasonable method for estimating suicide rates for countries with inadequate official data. These methods are low-cost and can be applied to regions with at least 2 newspapers with overlapping reports. Means to further improve this approach are discussed. These methods are applicable to both recent and historical data, which can benefit epidemiological work, and may also be applicable to homicides and other statistics.
authors.affiliation: University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia kharris@psy.uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Keith M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: University of Canberra, Bruce, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thandrayen
authors.affiliation: Human Development Research Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Royal University of Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
authors.forename: Chien
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Samphoas
authors.affiliation: Human Development Research Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
authors.forename: Pros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Se
authors.affiliation: Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Boontriga
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lewchalermwongse
authors.affiliation: Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Rattanakorn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ratanashevorn
authors.affiliation: University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Megan L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.affiliation: University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Choloe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Britts
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002160:Cambodia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009524:Newspapers as Topic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cambodia; Southeast Asia; capture-recapture; epidemiology; public health; suicide prevention; vital statistics