Citation

Bennewith O, Nowers M, Gunnell D. Psychiatr. Danub. 2006; 18(Suppl 1): 129.

Affiliation

Academic Unit of Psychiatry, Cotham House, Cotham Hill, Bristol BS6 6JL, UK. (O.M.Bennewith@bristol.ac.uk)

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Facultas Universitatis Studiorum Zagrabiensis - Danube Symposion of Psychiatry)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16964102

Abstract

Objective: To assess whether barriers installed on the Clifton Suspension Bridge, England, were effective in preventing suicides. Method: Coroner's records were used to identify the number of suicides occurring from the bridge and throughout the Bristol area in the 5 years before and after the installation of the preventive barriers in 1998. Results: The number of deaths from the Bridge halved in the 5 years after the construction of the barriers compared with the previous 5 years (8.2 per year v 4.0 per year, p=0.008). Most (90%) of these deaths were among males, however there was no evidence of an increase in male suicides by jumping from other sites after the erection of the barriers (5.2 per year v 5.2 per year, p=1.0). In keeping with national trends, suicides by jumping among females both from the Bridge and elsewhere in the Bristol area, increased over the study period. Conclusion: This study provides evidence for the effectiveness of barriers on bridges in preventing site-specific suicide and suicides by jumping in the surrounding area.

Language: en