Citation

Weber T, Förste D, Tsokos M. Rechtsmedizin 2013; 23(5): 383-390.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00194-013-0909-2

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The Berlin Health Report 2009 demonstrated a strong relationship between suicide rates and the social status of districts. Socially poor districts had a higher rate of suicide. A correlation between suicide in the elderly and social status was not found. This comparative study scrutinized these results. Material and methods: A survey of a randomized sample was conducted for the year 2009 in Berlin. The identification of those areas which were considered socially weak is based on the studies of the research group "Monitoring Social Urban Development 2010", which was carried out on behalf of the Senate Department for Urban Development for the period 2008-2009. The data was compared with the coroners statistics for the same period.

RESULTS: The ranking of the districts with the highest suicide rates changed when the statistics were based on the evaluation of coroner records and included all age groups.

CONCLUSIONS: In comparison to the Berlin Health 2009 report this study showed a strong correlation between the social status of district and suicide in the elderly. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Language: de

Keywords

Statistics; human; Poverty; suicide; Germany; Age; Cause of death; article; comparative study; controlled study; social status; coroner; health statistics; clinical indicator; health status indicator; Social conditions