Citation

Strukcinskiene B, Andersson R, Janson S. Acta Paediatr. 2011; 100(11): 1476-1480.

Affiliation

Faculty of Health Sciences, Klaipeda University, Lithuania Division of Public Health Sciences, Karlstad University, Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1651-2227.2011.02347.x

PMID

21554387

Abstract

Aim:  This paper considers the suicide mortality trends from 1990-2009 in young people aged 15 to 19 years in Lithuania. Methods:  Suicide and injury mortality data, plus mortality data from all causes, were used to compare the trend lines. Results:  Suicide mortality rate in young people aged 15-19 years and in all population showed a rising trend from 1990, and then a decreasing trend from 2002 year. This trend was significant exclusively in boys. When comparing suicide deaths as a percentage of injury deaths and of all deaths in the age group 15 to 19 years, rising trends for boys were evident, while in girls there was no evidence of change. Conclusions:  In Lithuania, from early 1990s, the frequency of suicide increased among adults and young people aged 15 to 19 years. After 2002, a decrease of deaths by suicide was observed both for the whole population and for young people aged 15-19 years. The rise and fall was obvious for boys. The reasons for different trends may have been influenced by the political and socioeconomic instability in the 1990-2002 period, and the socioeconomic stability, together with active preventive measures, from 2002. Although the consumption of modern SSRIs increased during the same time, suicide mortality was again high during the economic crisis in 2008-2009.

Language: en