National alcohol consumption and suicide rates

Abstract

Alcohol-use disorders have been reported to be associated with the risk of suicide in the general population (Schneider et al., 2009) and in the elderly (Shah and Ganesvaran, 1997). This allows identification of individuals potentially at increased risk for suicide and target preventative interventions at an individual level. Moreover, alcohol is often taken during the process of committing suicide (Conwell et al., 1990). Identification of the relationship between the national consumption of alcohol and suicide rates would support generation of public health measures to reduce the national consumption of alcohol to facilitate reduction in suicide rates. Thus, a cross-national ecological study examining the relationship between national per capita consumption of alcohol and suicide rates was undertaken.