SEATTLE, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Asian-American women seem to be particularly at risk for suicidal thoughts and behavior, U.S. researchers said.
University of Washington researchers used data from the National Latino and Asian-American Study based on bilingual interviews of almost 2,100 people age 18 and over. Two-thirds were immigrants from Asia and women made up 53 percent of the respondents.
Participants included 600 Chinese, 520 Vietnamese, 508 Filipinos and 467 other Asians, including Japanese, Koreans and Asian Indians.
The study, published in the journal Archives of Suicide Research, says 15.93 percent of U.S.-born Asian-American women contemplated suicide during their lifetime -- exceeding national estimates of 13.5 percent for all Americans. The percentage of Asian-Americans who reported thinking about suicide increased the longer they lived in the United States.
In addition, lifetime estimates of suicide attempts also were higher among U.S-born Asian-American women than the general population, 6.29 percent vs. 4.6 percent.
"It is unclear why Asian-Americans who were born in the United States have higher rates of thinking about and attempting suicide," lead study Aileen Duldulao, a University of Washington doctoral student, said in a statement.
