ArticleEpidemiology and psychiatric sciences2023
Structural intervention at one bridge decreases the overall jumping suicide rate in Victoria, Australia.
Article in Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Impact of interventions at frequently used suicide locations on occurrence of suicides at other sites: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Uncovering Means Restriction Activities for Suicide Prevention That Have Been Undertaken in Australia: A Scoping Review.Asia-Pacific psychiatry : official journal of the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists · 2026Article
- Suicide Prevention Measures at High-Risk Locations: A Goal-Directed Motivation Perspective.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Change in suicides during and after the installation of barriers at the Golden Gate Bridge.Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of partial restriction of access to means in jumping suicide: lessons from four bridges in three countries.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2024Article
- High-Risk Suicide Locations in Australia.JAMA network open · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsThere is clear evidence that installing safety barriers is effective in preventing jumping suicides from high-risk bridges with only moderate displacement to other nearby bridges. However, the impact of barriers on jumping suicides across broader geographical areas is not well understood. We examined patterns in jumping suicides across the state of Victoria, Australia, after a safety barrier was installed at the West Gate Bridge which, before the installation of the barrier, was the site of approximately 40% of Victoria's jumping suicides.
methodsWe used negative binomial regression analyses on Victorian data from 2000 to 2019 to compare rates of jumping suicides at the West Gate Bridge, other bridges and non-bridge jumping locations before, during and after the West Gate Bridge barrier installation. We conducted linear regression analyses to examine whether the distance travelled from the deceased's usual residence to the location of their jumping suicide changed between the before, during and after barrier installation periods.
resultsAfter installation of the barrier, there were no jumping suicides at the West Gate Bridge (rate ratio [RR] = 0.00, 95% credible intervals [95% Cr] = 0.00-0.0001) and there was strong evidence that the rate of jumping suicides at all locations declined by 65% (RR = 0.35, 95% Cr = 0.22-0.54). At other bridges, there was also evidence of a reduction (RR = 0.31, 95% Cr = 0.11-0.70), but there was no evidence of a change at non-bridge locations (RR = 0.74, 95% Cr = 0.39-1.30).
conclusionAfter installation of the safety barrier at the West Gate Bridge, jumping suicide in Victoria decreased overall and at other bridges, and did not appear to change at non-bridge locations. Our findings show that when barriers are installed at a site responsible for a disproportionately high number of jumping suicides, they are not only highly effective at the site where the barriers are installed but can also have a prevention impact beyond the immediate locale at similar sites.
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