The Most Common Method of Suicide in Tehran 2000–2004

Abstract

The likelihood of completing suicide depends to some extent on knowledge of effective means and also on the availability and/or acceptability of such methods. Since studying suicide methods may have an implication for prevention, the focus of this study was on the most favored method of suicide in Tehran, Iran. The study uses confirmed suicide data provided by the Beheshet Zahra Organization (BZO), which gathers all mortality data within Tehran and enters them into a computerized database, from which the relevant information for all the recorded suicide cases during the year 2000 to 2004 were obtained and analyzed. There were 703 cases of suicide (632 males and 71 females) in the BZO database, with a sex ratio of 8.9. The mean (standard deviation) of age at suicide for those who chose hanging and for those who have chosen other methods of suicide were 33.93 (14.2) and 34.60 (13.4) years, respectively. Hanging was the method favored by 572 (85.9%) of cases. Use of hanging was higher in females (61, 85.9%) than in males (511, 80.9%), and higher among the married (304, 53.6%) than among singles (268, 46.4%). The high proportion of persons using hanging as a method of suicide in Tehran may reflect the fact that this method is more acceptable and/or easily available and/or less likely to be misclassified as accidental or undetermined death. The prevention of such suicides is extremely difficult in the general population. Therefore, it is suggested that, to prevent suicide by hangings, the authorities should focus on the causal factors of suicide rather than on the acceptability and/or the availability of this method.

Characteristics of Young Suicides by Violent Methods in Rural China*

“…In this study, season of autumn or summer was negatively related to violent methods, which means that there was an interaction between seasons and violent methods in suicides. In winter or spring, pesticides and other poisons were not easily obtained by suicidal people, and violent methods were easily employed by suicides, which also supported the previous results (27–29). Studying seasonality has an important implication in establishing public health policy (34).…”

“…As we know, control or intervention of suicide by violent methods is very difficult. For example, jumping from high places, solely on the acceptability and/or the availability of this method, is difficult to prevent, and more focus should be on the causal factors of suicide (29). Identifying their characteristics and related risk factors would provide some ideas to prevent this suicide event.…”

Factors associated with the choice of suicide method in Kermanshah Province, Iran

“…Hanging is often considered to be an easily available and more acceptable suicide method that is less likely to be misclassified as accidental or an undetermined death. 25 In general, the prevention of suicide by hanging is extremely difficult. Thus, in this study we used hanging as the baseline suicide method and estimated the relative-risk ratios of choosing other suicide methods over hanging based on gender, age, education, living area and marital status.…”

Seasonality and time patterns in attempted suicide in Ilam province of Iran: An appraisal of current data of 2010 -2014

“…In addition, suicide rates in the recent years (2006-2010) revealed a higher annual percentage change (APC) in Ilam (+10%) compared to other provinces ( 18 ). Based on the SRSD, the overall suicide rate in Ilam was 19.54 per 100,000 persons between the years 2010 and 2014; the likely explanation for this rate could be the low economic development, extensive regional war zones (1980-1986), and dominance of traditional culture ( 24 ).…”

“…Both rural and urban areas showed seasonal variation in suicide attempts although a greater seasonal effect was observed in rural areas. Basing his research on the sociological model, Durkheim illustrated the difference between rural and urban locations, demonstrating that variables effecting suicide are more prevalent in rural areas ( 24 , 27 ). A different result was obtained; it was found that seasonal effect on suicide was higher in urban areas than in rural regions in Italy ( 28 ).…”