To compare and contrast the characteristics of suicides among aboriginal and nonaboriginal people in Manitoba.
Retrospective review of all suicides, based on a confidential analysis of records held by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Manitoba between 1988 and 1994.
Standardized suicide rates, age- and sex-specific suicide rates, blood alcohol level at time of death, psychiatric help-seeking behaviour before suicide and residence on a reserve.
Age-standardized suicide rates were 31.8 and 13.6 per 100,000 population per year among aboriginal and nonaboriginal people, respectively. The mean age of aboriginal people who committed suicide was 27.0 (standard deviation [SD] 10.8) years, compared with a mean age of 44.6 (SD 18.8) years for nonaboriginal people who committed suicide (p