Analysis of suicide deaths in a 15-year period in Eskisehir, western Anatolia, Turkey and the determination of risk factors

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESIt is estimated that every year 1 million people die all around the world due to suicide. The average rate of suicide in the world is reported as 16/100 000. In this study, we aimed to evaluate and discuss the suicide cases in our city Eskisehir that is located in western Anatolia.DESIGN AND SETTINGSThis is a retrospective study covering the period 1997–2011.METHODSAll deaths in Eskisehir caused due to the consumption of forensic medicines in a 15-year period between 1997 and 2011 were evaluated retrospectively. A total of 553 cases were determined to be suicidal following both forensic and criminal investigations, and were included in the study. Furthermore, death examination and autopsy reports were investigated, and judicial investigation records were also taken into account.RESULTSIn this period, the average rate of suicide in our city was determined as 5.1/100 000 of which 71.4% of the cases were male. It was determined that the suicides most commonly occurred between the ages of 19 and 29 (32.4%, n=179). The most commonly encountered suicide method was hanging (60.9%, n=337).CONCLUSIONIt was ascertained that the suicide rate in our city was lower than the average rate in the world, but it was higher than the average rate in Turkey. Unemployment was determined as the most common risk factor in our study. A follow-up should be provided for people with a history of attempting to commit suicide or with a tendency to committing suicide due to a psychological disorder.

Suicidal Hanging in Eskisehir, Turkey: 25 Year Analysis

“…Hanging cases are frequently encountered in forensic medicine practice. It is the most commonly used method of suicide all over the world [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. …”

“…According to the statistics of the year 2014 in our country, it was reported that the ratio of suicide was 4.07 per hundred thousand, Eskişehir was the fifth province with the highest ratio of suicide, and the ratio of suicide was 6.59 [31]. In the studies conducted on suicide, it was reported that men died more frequently due to suicide [6,8,9,[32][33][34][35]. In the studies conducted in parallel to it, victims were reported to be males more frequently [16,17,22,36,37].…”

“…In the present study, in accordance with the literature, it was determined that the mean age of the cases was 37 ± 17.9, it was most frequently and secondly seen between 19-29 (32.1%) and 30-39 (20%) respectively. These ages are known as the most common age range in studies related to suicide [6][7][8][9]11]. According to the data of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TSI), it has been reported that suicides are most commonly seen in the 15-24 age group (25.6%) and then in the 25-34 age group (19.2%) in our country [34].…”

“…It has been reported in the studies conducted all over the world that the incidence of hanging is gradually increasing [3,[16][17][18][19][20][21]. Hanging is thought to be the most commonly used suicide method as hanging material can be easily found and the hanging action can be performed almost everywhere [1,9,11,22].…”

“…In hanging, these mechanisms should not be considered separately [1][2][3][4][5]. Hanging is known as the most frequently used method of suicide worldwide [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. It has been reported that about 2000 suicide deaths due to hanging occurs per year in England [15].…”