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Abstract
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INTRODUCTION: Suicide constitutes a major concern with evident contribution to global mortality worldwide. Evidence on suicide trends is mixed in the COVID-19 pandemic era. Spain may be an at-risk country for increased suicide risk in the time of COVID-19 pandemic due to prolonged restrictions and lockdown, elevated COVID-19 wave recurrence and related mental health impact. This brief report aims to provide some insight into the suicide mortality trends in the first COVID-19 pandemic year in Spain, using national data.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data from the National Death Index were used. Annual mortality rate was calculated at a province level under random-effects models for the 2019 and 2020 years. Poisson timeseries regression was used to study the relationship between monthly suicide mortality and COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and lockdown, and second COVID-19 wave peak covariates.
RESULTS: 3,671 people died by suicide in 2019 in Spain and 3,941 people died by suicide in 2020. The random-effects mortality rate in 2019 was 8.3 (CI(95) = [7.6, 9.0]) per 100,000 inhabitants, and mortality rate in 2020 was 8.9 (CI(95) = [8.3, 9.6]). No significant differences between mortality rates were found (p =.18). The Poisson regression showed a significant relationship between the COVID-19 outbreak and suicide mortality trend, with OR = 1.07 (CI(95) = [1.02, 1.12]).
CONCLUSIONS: Although annual mortality rates were not significantly different, an increased suicide risk was found from May, 2020 onwards. Our results claim for action to tackle suicide in the post-pandemic era taking into account the discouraging upcoming scenario.
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Introducción. El suicidio constituye uno de los problemas de salud pública más importantes a nivel mundial. Los estudios no dejan clara la tendencia de mortalidad por suicidio en la pandemia por COVID-19. España podría registrar tasas crecientes de mortalidad por suicidio, dadas las restricciones prolongadas, la recurrencia de olas del virus y el elevado impacto en salud mental. Este estudio breve pretende proporcionar evidencia de las tendencias de mortalidad en el primer año de pandemia COVID-19 en España.
Materiales y método. Se estimaron tasas anuales de mortalidad, usando modelos de efectos aleatorios a partir del índice nacional de mortalidad, para los años 2019 y 2020. Se usaron regresiones poissonianas para estudiar la relación de la mortalidad mensual por suicidio y factores temporales asociados a la pandemia.
Resultados. 3.761 personas murieron por suicidio en España en 2019 y 3.941 personas murieron en 2020. La tasa de mortalidad en 2019 fue de 8,3 (IC95 = [7,6, 9,0]) por cada 100.000 habitantes, y de 8,9 (IC95 = [8,3, 9,6]) en 2020. No se encontraron diferencias significativas entre ambas tasas (p = 0,18). La regresión poissoniana reveló una relación significativa entre la tendencia de mortalidad por suicidio y el inicio de la pandemia COVID-19, OR = 1,07 (IC95 = [1,02, 1,12]).
Conclusiones. No se observó tasa de mortalidad por suicidio significativamente mayor en 2020 pero sí una tendencia creciente de casos desde mayo del 2020 en adelante. Nuestros resultados pretenden instar a tomar medidas para atajar la conducta suicida en la época post-pandemia.
Language: es |