Comparative Study on the Phenomenon of Suicide Based on Gender and Season (original) (raw)
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Seasonality of suicide attempts: association with gender
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 2010
Some studies suggest seasonality of suicide attempts in females, but not in males. The reasons for this gender difference remain unclear. Only few studies addressed the question whether gender differences in seasonality of suicide attempts reflect gender differences in the choice of method for suicide attempts, with inconsistent results. So, this study aimed to analyze the association of gender with seasonality in suicide attempts by persons living in two Northern Bavarian regions [city of Nuremberg (480,000 inhabitants) and region of Wuerzburg (270,000 inhabitants)] between 2000 and 2004. We addressed this question by focussing on the frequency of suicide attempts in relation to the seasons. The sample consisted of 2,269 suicide attempters (882 males and 1,387 females). The overall seasonality was assessed using the v 2 test for multinomials. Moreover, the ratio of observed to expected number of suicide attempts (OER) with 95% confidence intervals within each season was calculated. As a result, overall distribution of suicide attempts differed significantly between seasons for women (v 2 = 9.19, df = 3, P = 0.03), but not for men. Female suicide attempts showed a trough in the spring (decline compared to the expected value by 10%; OER = 0.9, 95% CI = 0.8-1.0). This trough was restricted to female low-risk suicide attempts (decline by 13%; OER = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.77-0.98). No seasonality was found for men. Seasonality of high-risk methods was more pronounced than that of low-risk methods; however, no significant gender differences were found concerning this aspect. The overall distribution of the sub-types of suicidal acts (parasuicidal gestures, suicidal pauses, suicide attempts in the strict sense) showed seasonality neither for males nor for females. Whereas seasonality was absent in male suicide attempters, the frequency of low-risk suicide attempts in females was 13.1% lower than expected in the spring.
Journal of Affective Disorders, 2002
Background: Previous studies have suggested differences in seasonal variation of violent and non-violent suicides, but seasonal distribution of the specific methods of suicide is less clear. Method: We investigated the seasonal distribution of the specific suicide methods for both genders during a 16-year period. The seasonal effect was explored by monthly ratio statistics from the large population-based data including all suicides in Finland during years 1980-1995 (n 5 20 234). Results: Hanging peaked in spring among both genders. In summer, the significant peaks were occurred in suicides by drowning, jumping and gassing among males. The bimodality in female suicides with autumn peaks was explained by poisoning and drowning. Traffic suicides showed substantial winter-troughs for both genders. Conclusions: The results suggested that specific violent and nonviolent methods of suicides grouped into their traditional clusters on the basis of their seasonality, except suicides by gassing and shooting. The seasonal distribution in specific suicide methods should take into account in suicide prevention at clinical work and also it should be considered while determining which methods of suicides are regarded as violent or non-violent methods in research. ď
Seasonal variation in suicide occurrence in Finland
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 1998
The aim of this study was to investigate the age-, gender- and suicide method-related seasonality of suicide occurrence by using the largest database examined so far (n=21,279). The Chi-square test for multinomials was used as the overall measure of deviation. The monthly observed and expected numbers of suicides were calculated and classified by year, month, gender, age groups and suicide methods. To identify the statistically significant peak and trough months, the ratio of observed numbers of suicides to expected numbers with 95% confidence intervals was calculated. For males, there was a suicide peak from April to July, while for females the distribution was bimodal (with peaks in May and October). In elderly people there was a significant excess in the number of suicides in autumn, and the troughs were deeper in winter. For violent suicides there was a unimodal spring peak, but for non-violent suicides the distribution was bimodal. The results indicate that suicides among elderly subjects, as well as non-violent suicides, occur significantly more often during autumn than would be expected.
Use of Statistical Techniques in Studies of Suicide Seasonality, 1970 to 1997
Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 2002
The effect of seasons on suicides has been suggested repeatedly. In order to reveal a true seasonal pattern, an appropriate statistical technique, which is sensitive to a specific type of cyclic variation in the data, must be chosen. This study is a review of the use of statistical techniques for seasonality and of some important characteristics of study samples that were evaluated from 46 original suicide seasonality articles published in major psychiatric journals. The results showed that statistical techniques were applied in a majority of articles, but they were commonly lacking regarding analyses, which compared seasonal patterns among subgroups of a population. In recent studies more sophisticated statistical techniques were utilized for seasonality, like spectral analyses, as compared with earlier studies, in which the emphasis was on chi-square tests. Lack of reporting essential features of the data, such as the sample size and monthly values of suicides, were frequent. The calendar effect was adjusted only in 11 studies. Some recommendations concerning the methodological and reporting issues are summarized for future articles on the seasonal affect on suicides.
Psychiatry Research, 1998
The seasonality of suicide is well known and a repeatedly demonstrated phenomenon. The authors analyzed the seasonality of 148 suicide events on Gotland between 1981 and 1996. A marked and significant seasonality with a spring and summer peak was found between 1981 and 1989, when the prescription of antidepressants was relatively low and stable. However, this seasonality disappeared in the period between 1990 and 1996, when prescription of antidepressants increased dramatically, indicating that more and more depressed patients were pharmacologically treated. As the seasonality of suicide in the population is the reflection of the seasonal nature of depressive suicides, the result suggests that a decreasing tendency of seasonality in suicide may indicate the lowering rate of depressive suicides in the given population. áŽ
The Association between Completed Suicides and Season of the Year in an Iranian Population
Background: The main objective of the present study was to determine the association between completed suicides and season of the year in Iran during 2006-2010. Methods: Data on completed suicides were collected by questionnaires field out by the family members of the victims in Legal Medicine Centers throughout the country over the period from 2006 to 2010. The maximum number of completed suicides (380) was observed in August, while the minimum number (231) was reported in February. Results: Season-wise, completed suicides were most prevalent in summer , whereas least prevalent in winter (726). Mean (SD) age of individuals having committed suicide was 31.5 (14.6) years. This value did not change significantly in different seasons (P=0.051); nor, was a statistically significant difference observed in the educational level and the reason for suicide across different seasons of the year. Self-immolation and toxic poisoning were found to be significantly less common in autumn and winter (P<0.05), respectively. The number of completed suicides was higher in warm seasons Conclusion: Season of the year had significant relationships with gender as well the method of suicide, while no significant association was observed for age, level of education, and reason for suicide.
Acta medica Iranica, 2017
Little attention has been paid to seasonality in suicide in Iran. Time pattern in suicide deaths and suicide attempts for some related factors such as gender, mental disorders has been found. In present study, we focus on suicide methods and the association with seasonality and other putative covariates such as gender. Through a cross-sectional study, overall identified suicide attempts and suicide deaths in the province of Ilam from 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2014 were enrolled. We used Edwards' test for test of seasonality in suicide methods. Seasonal effect (peak/trough seasons) and (deaths/attempts suicide) was explored by ratio statistics, the null hypothesis being that the attempted suicides in each method group are evenly distributed over a year. More suicide attempts by hanging 29.4% and self-immolation 41.4% were observed in spring and differ by season pattern in both genders. The overall distribution of suicides by violent and non-violent methods was (males x2=6.3,...
Gender Differences in Suicide Rates
Forensic Science & Addiction Research, 2018
Objective: There is limited research on the trends in suicide rates by gender in Turkey. The purpose of the study is to examine suicide rates by gender over time and whether suicide rates by gender differ significantly. Method: The data on suicide from 2007 to 2016 were obtained from the Turkish Statistical Institute. The number of suicide cases was 28,760 (72.5% male, 27.5% female). Direct standardization method was used to calculate gender specific suicide rates. Numerical (correlation) and graphical (line charts) methods were used to reveal the trends in suicide rates by gender. Then, paired-sample t-test was conducted to determine whether suicide rates significantly differed by gender. Results: The increase in suicide rates among males was not statistically significant while there was a statistically significant decrease in suicide rates among females over time. The ratio of male to female suicide rate increased significantly over time. In addition, the difference in suicide rates between males and females was statistically significant. Male suicide rates were 2.5 times higher than that of female. Conclusion: Suicide rates differ by gender.
Seasonality of suicide: a multi-country multi-community observational study
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 2020
Aims We aimed to investigate the heterogeneity of seasonal suicide patterns among multiple geographically, demographically and socioeconomically diverse populations. Methods Weekly time-series data of suicide counts for 354 communities in 12 countries during 1986â2016 were analysed. Two-stage analysis was performed. In the first stage, a generalised linear model, including cyclic splines, was used to estimate seasonal patterns of suicide for each community. In the second stage, the community-specific seasonal patterns were combined for each country using meta-regression. In addition, the community-specific seasonal patterns were regressed onto community-level socioeconomic, demographic and environmental indicators using meta-regression. Results We observed seasonal patterns in suicide, with the counts peaking in spring and declining to a trough in winter in most of the countries. However, the shape of seasonal patterns varied among countries from bimodal to unimodal seasonality. The...
Seasonal variation in suicides re-examined: no sex difference in Hong Kong and Taiwan
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 1997
The seasonal variation in suicides in Hong Kong and Taiwan during the period 1981 to 1993 was examined using harmonic analysis. A single cycle per year with lowest incidence in the winter months was found in both locations and for both sexes. Despite the regional differences in ascertainment procedures and preferred suicide methods, the absence of a biseasonal distribution of female suicides was consistently observed. This finding was contrary to that reported in many Western countries. A nonshared psychosocial process underlying the cross-cultural difference in the seasonality of female suicide is suggested.