Suicide mortality in the city of São Paulo: epidemiological characteristics and their social factors in a temporal trend between 2000 and 2017. Retrospective study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Suicide is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, accounting for one million deaths annually. Greater understanding of the causal risk factors is needed, especially in large urban centers. OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the epidemiological profile and temporal trend of suicides over two decades and correlate prevalence with social indicators. DESIGN AND SETTING: Descriptive population-based longitudinal retrospective study conducted in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: A temporal trend series for suicide mortality in this city was constructed based on data from the Ministry of Health's mortality notification system, covering 2000-2017. It was analyzed using classic demographic variables relating to social factors. RESULTS: Suicide rates were high throughout this period, increasing from 4.6/100,000 inhabitants in the 2000s to 4.9/100,000 in 2017 (mean: 4.7/100,000). The increase in mortality was mainly due to increased male suicide, which went from 6.0/100,000 to the current 8.0/100,000. Other higher coefficients corresponded to social risk factors, such as being a young adult (25-44 years old), being more educated (eight years of schooling) and having white ethnicity (67.2%). Suicide was also twice as likely to occur at home (47.8%). CONCLUSION: High suicide rates were seen over the period 2000-2017, especially among young adults and males. High schooling levels and white ethnicity were risk factors. The home environment is the crucial arena for preventive action. One special aspect of primary prevention is the internet and especially social media, which provides a multitude of information for suicide prevention.

Criminal experts’ experience on forensic traces not preserved by health and safety professionals

“…Ainda, no tocante à manipulação do corpo da vítima, além do SAMU, a família possuiu significativa participação no relato dos peritos, principalmente em casos de suicídio, na tentativa de socorro ao parente. Estudos realizados no Brasil, apontaram o ambiente domiciliar como o local de maior ocorrência dos casos de suicídio, e o enforcamento se destaca como o método mais prevalente (12)(13) . Esses achados corroboram o cenário mundial conforme observado em revisão de escopo realizada por pesquisadores da Austrália, na qual 36 artigos foram analisados e, destes, 17 que apontavam o local de ocorrência do enforcamento, mostraram o domicílio como o de maior utilização da força (14) .…”

Epidemiology of suicides in Brazil: a systematic review

“…The suicide rate in Brazil varied from 4.82 to 6.9 per 100,000 habitants along with different studies from different years (Martini et al,. 2019;Colombo-Souza et al,. 2020;Dantas et al,.…”

“…2018). A study in the city of São Paulo, the most populous city in the country located in the Southeast region, found that suicide rates increased from 4.6/100,000 inhabitants in 2000 to 4.9/100,000 in 2017 (Colombo-Souza et al,. 2020).…”

“…2014;WHO 2019WHO , 2021, except in indigenous children (Souza 2019). There was an increase in suicide for people aged 25 to 44 years old between (Colombo-Souza et al,. 2020Bando et al,.…”

Perfil geográfico, temporal, epidemiológico e toxicológico das vítimas idosas de suicídio no Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil, entre 2017 e 2019

“…Introdução O suicídio de idosos, pessoas com 60 anos ou mais, é considerado pela Organização Mundial da Saúde como um dos mais graves problemas de saúde pública, pois o risco aumenta com a idade [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] e essa é a população em maior crescimento [7].…”