Suicide attempts in Brazil, 1998–2014: an ecological study

Abstract

BackgroundAttempted suicide is the main predictor of suicide constituting a major public health issue worldwide. It is estimated that for every completed suicide, 10 to 20 suicide attempts occur. Important part of the occurrences of suicide attempts in Brazil are registered in the hospital information system for coverage of more than 70 % allows to evaluate the extent of this problem in the country. The scope of this article is to analyse hospitalizations resulting from suicide attempts at public hospitals or services contracted out by the public health system (SUS) in Brazil from 1998 to 2014.MethodsThis is an ecological study of secondary morbidity data obtained from the Hospital Information System. The overall rate of suicide attempts per 100 000 (105) individuals and rates stratified by age group and sex were calculated. To measure trends, simple linear regression coefficients were calculated. The hospital mortality rate was calculated per 100 individuals.ResultsThe overall rate of hospitalization decreased from 1998 to 2014. The young and adult age groups had the highest hospitalization rates. Men were admitted more and the elderly had higher hospital mortality rates. The main cause of hospitalization was poisoning, accounting for 70.4 % of hospitalizations. Among the people who used poisoning by non-medical drugs as the method of attempted suicide, 58 178 (69.6 %) were men and 49 585 people who are poisoned by medical drugs (60.1 %) were women.ConclusionsAlthough hospitalization rates for attempted suicide have declined in Brazil, it remains a serious public health problem. Because a suicide attempt is the main predictor of suicide, studies to identify those most vulnerable to attempted suicide will help in the development of prevention strategies for mental health.

Forensic toxicology analysis of self-poisoning suicidal deaths in Tehran, Iran; trends between 2011-2015

“…Male to female ratio was 2.14, resembling the supremacy of males for self-poisoning suicidal deaths. The predominance of men in self-poisoning drug related deaths had been reported by other investigators [5, 21, 27, 28]. Males often choose more violent suicide methods that will assure to reach their desired aim [29–31].…”

Lesão autoprovocada em todos os ciclos da vida: perfil das vítimas em serviços de urgência e emergência de capitais do Brasil

“…The Brazilian Hospital Information System reported that suicide attempts were responsible for 153,061 hospitalizations of people aged 10 years or over in the period 1998-2014, which indicates that such events were one of the main causes of hospitalization 9,22,23 . The situation is even more critical when one considers that it is estimated that out of every three suicide attempts, only one received attention from the health services 23 .…”

Epidemiology of Completed Suicides Referred to Forensic Pathology Organization of Tehran, Iran, During March 2011 to March 2016

“…Studies from Iran [22] and Pakistan [23] demonstrate that cases of attempted suicide are younger compared to victims of successful suicide. Generally, probability of success of suicide attempts rises by age; this finding can be due to more violent methods used by older attempters, their greater tendency for dying and their lower resistance to physical injuries caused by attempts [10,22,24].…”