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GIS technology identified counties at high risk for youth self-inflicted injury
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Geographic Information Systems maps identified counties in Illinois with the greatest burden of self-inflicted injury among adolescents in study findings published in Preventing Chronic Disease.
Benjamin S. Arbise, MPH, CHES, and Nancy L. Amerson, MPH, of the Illinois Department of Public Health, assessed Illinois hospital discharge data on self-inflicted injury from 2009 through 2012 for adolescents aged 15 to 18 years. They defined high-risk counties as those with high hospitalization rates and high hospitalization counts. Hospitalization rates for self-inflicted injury above the state average of 175 per 10,000 population were considered high. Hospitalization counts for self-inflicted injury in the top two quartiles, 54 to 3,481 self-inflicted injuries, were considered high.
GIS analysis identified 32 high-risk counties in Illinois. The majority were located in the state’s central and northern regions. Southern Illinois had one high-risk county.
Seventeen of the high-risk counties had high schools that participated in the Gatekeeper training program, which prepares middle and high school administrators, teachers and staff to recognize psychological distress in students and provides them with support systems.
Ninety-eight high schools in Illinois participated in the Gatekeeper program as of November 2013.
In an effort to increase access to suicide burden data and participation in the Gatekeeper program, the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Youth Suicide Prevention Project plans to distribute GIS maps identifying high-risk areas to stakeholders, according to the researchers.
“The coordination of stakeholders’ efforts and the expansion of the Gatekeeper training to high-risk counties will help increase the impact of suicide prevention in areas with the greatest need,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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