Background: Informant interviews improve the quality of information available when investigating the antecedents of suicide. However, biases in subject recruitment might skew the results.
Aim: To compare data obtained from a full psychological autopsy (PA) of suicides aged 35 years and over involving interviews of informants with data available in the coroner's files.
Method: We conducted a pilot PA at Glebe Coroner's Court of suicides in 2003–4. The Rochester Suicide Behaviour Profile interview was used with consenting informants. For the remainder data were extracted from the coroner's file.
Results: There were 127 eligible suicides with 52 having a full PA and 75 having data extracted from coroner's files. There were no significant differences in the age (67% aged 35–59 years) and sex (72% male) of suicides between groups. The main stressors identified were health concerns (28%), relationship issues (26%) and financial problems (15%) and these did not vary between groups. The overall rate of depression (58%) was similar between the groups but major depression was more frequently diagnosed after informant interviews (48% vs 25%). Higher rates of substance abuse (35% vs 23%) and personality disturbance (19% vs 9%) were also identified after interviews while fewer subjects (12% vs 28%) were felt to have no psychiatric disorder. Around 35% were taking antidepressants and this did not vary between groups.
Conclusions: Full informant interviews identify more subjects with psychiatric disorder particularly major depression and substance abuse and provide more detailed information. However on broad parameters of known suicide risk factors, data extracted from coroner's files may be adequate.
