Citation

Bose A, Sandal Sejbaek C, Suganthy P, Raghava V, Alex R, Muliyil J, Konradsen F. Trop. Med. Int. Health 2009; 14(7): 761-765.

Affiliation

Department of Community Health, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1365-3156.2009.02293.x

PMID

19497080

Abstract

Objective To record cases of suicide and attempted suicide among a population of 108 000 people living in a primarily rural area of southern India, with the aim of guiding policies and strategies to restrict access to poisonous compounds at community level. Method Community-based surveillance over a period of 2 years. Results and conclusion The overall suicide rate was 71.4 per 100 000 population; the highest burden was among men. Most people died through hanging (81, 54%) and self-poisoning (46, 31%). Of the 46 who died from self-poisoning, 78.3% had taken pesticides and 19.7% had eaten poisonous plants. Eighty per cent of the self-poisoning cases obtained the poisonous substance in or in close proximity to the home, highlighting the importance of safe storage in the domestic environment. Of the 110 fatal and non-fatal self-poisoning cases, 87 (57.5%) were taken for treatment; 50 (57.4%) went to government hospitals and 37 (42.5%) to private facilities. This indicates the importance of including the private sector in the efforts to improve case management. Furthermore, the fact that 31 (67%) of the self-poisoning patients, who eventually died, were alive after 4 h provides an incentive to focus on improved case management and access to health services.

Language: en