Suicide rates in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil: association with socioeconomic, cultural, and agricultural factors

Abstract

Rio Grande do Sul State has the highest suicide rates in Brazil. Previous studies have suggested a possible role of agricultural activities, especially tobacco farming, where pesticide use is intensive. An ecological study was designed to assess associations between age-adjusted suicide rates based on death certificates and socioeconomic and agricultural factors. Suicide rates in males and females were inversely associated with schooling level and directly associated with divorce/marital separation. Rates for men were higher in areas where traditional Protestant religious were more prevalent, and rates for women were lower in areas with a higher proportion of single-inhabitant households. Multivariate analyses showed no associations between increased suicide rates and any of the agricultural variables. These results confirm the role of socioeconomic determinants of suicide, but do not support the hypothesis of a specific role of agricultural practices.

Suicide and poverty in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review

“…68 However, gender differences in the relationship between SIB and poverty was not explored due to the limited evidence. Three studies 33,47,49 only explored relationships for both female and male participants. Finally, social factors relating to poverty, such as rurality and access to lethal means, may explain some of the findings.…”

“…We assessed 29 (78%) studies to be of high [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] or acceptable [44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] quality (Table 3). Eight studies [59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66] were of low quality due to problems with risk of bias: performance, attrition and detection bias (interrupted-time series); selection bias, unclear case definitions, detection bias, lack of adjustment for confounding factors (case-control studies); detection bias, lack of adjustment for confounding factors (cross sectional and ecological studies).…”

“…However, seven studies 33,40,44,45,47,60,66 investigated the relationship between suicide and national income. Three studies using bivariate analysis had mixed results: one 33 positive with the inflation rate in South Africa, one 45 negative with Purchasing Power Parity-adjusted GDP per capita across multiple countries, and one 60 unclear association with GDP per capita in Brazil.…”

“…One study 47 explored the relationship between suicide and composite poverty measures. Using multivariate analysis this Brazilian study reported a null association between suicides and the income domain of the HDI (HDI-income).…”

Perfil epidemiológico do suicídio no extremo oeste do estado de Santa Catarina, Brasil

“…As especificidades do suicídio no estado do RS já vêm sendo estudadas há mais de uma década pelo grupo "Agrotóxicos e outros fatores de risco para o suicídio no RS" 5,6 . Esses mesmos pesquisadores publicaram um estudo detalhado sobre o perfil epidemiológico do suicídio no RS, indicando um aumento nos coeficientes de morte por suicídio entre 1980 e 1999 6,7 . Os estudos indicam ainda que, para cada suicídio consumado, ocorram pelo menos 10 tentativas sérias, que demandam atenção médica e aumento de custos para o sistema público 2,3 .…”