Children, adolescents and young adults suicide data from Epirus, northwestern Greece

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate suicide trends among individuals < or = 24 years of age in the region of Epirus, northwestern Greece, from January 1998 to December 2008. Twenty-one cases were classified as suicides out of 242 total deaths (8.7%). The male to female suicide ratio was 4.25 (17 males and 4 females). The preferred suicide method for those aged > or = 19 years involved firearms, and for those aged < 19 years was hanging. Alcohol was implicated in more than 50% of the suicides and was consumed exclusively by those aged > 16 years. Suicides by self-shooting were more often related to drinking than suicides by other methods. Children and adolescents (aged up to 15 years), older adolescents (15-18 years) and young adults (19-24 years) had suicide rates of 0.05/100,000, 0.10/100,000 and 0.39/100,000 inhabitants per year, respectively. These suicide rates are the lowest reported so far in Europe. The main reason for this may be the traditional lifestyle of the local population and the strong family ties that protect against suicide, especially for the young.

Sociodemographic Variables Most Associated with Suicidal Behaviour and Suicide Methods in Europe and America. A Systematic Review

“…Moreover, due to the increase of life expectancy and a greater accessibility to health services, the population seem to grow older showing a higher number of old adults, implying a rise in the rates of this group and making them more noticeable than the ones of the young people (Beautrais, Collings, Ehrhardt, & Henare, 2005). Despite the fact that some studies have shown more ideation, planning, and attempts among young people -especially the latter (e.g., Nkansah-Amankra, 2013; ten Have et al, 2013) -, other studies find higher rates of suicide in these people (e.g., Cano et al, 2012;Vougiouklakis, Tsiligianni, & Boumba, 2009). It seems that suicide ideation and attempts tend to appear in young adults, increasing the risk of suicide after puberty (Beautrais et al, 2005;Gisle & Van Hoye, 2013;Ministerio de Sanidad, Política Social e Igualdad, 2012).…”

“…The suicide related to the marital status can be associated with age: although different studies show different rates, most of them are common in people of older age (e.g., Beghi, Rosenbaum, Cerri, & Cornaggia, 2013; Coope et al, 2014). In this group of people is more common to be a widower, and also other risk factors, such as chronical diseases (Fairweather-Schmidt, Anstey, Salim, & Rodgers, 2010), appear and they have a higher intentionality using methods which are more lethal (Ministerio de Sanidad, Política Social e Thomas and Gunnell (2010) 1861-2007 Age = ≥15 Thompson, Dewa, and Phare (2012) 2009 N = 1,817; Age = 18-80 Torresani, Toffol, Scocco, and Fanolla (2014) 2000-2009 N = 525; Age = 0 ≥ 85 Uggla and Mace (2015) 2001 N = 927,134; Age = 16-59 Vougiouklakis, Tsiligianni, and Boumba (2009) 1998-2004Age = 10-24 Note. Data in alphabetical order by author/s.…”

Head impalement – An unusual form of suicide

“…3 Differences in methods may also be influenced by the age range, sex distribution and ethnic composition of a community. 1,4,5 Suicide in South Australia most often involves hanging, carbon monoxide poisoning, drug overdose, and gunshot wounds. Multiple methods of self-destruction may also be used, but are generally less common.…”

Suicidal Attempts Among Children and Teenagers in Egypt

“…The World Health Organization (WHO) defines children as those aged less than 10 years and adolescents as those aged between 10 and 18 years, respectively (Vougiouklakis et al, 2009). The prevalence of suicide in this age group has been determined to be two or three times higher than the overall prevalence (Arslan et al, 2007).…”