TY - JOUR PY - 2011// TI - Higher environmental temperature and global radiation are correlated with increasing suicidality? A localized data analysis JO - Chronobiology international A1 - Müller, Helge H. A1 - Biermann, Teresa A1 - Renk, Stefan A1 - Reulbach, Udo A1 - Str Bel, Armin A1 - Kornhuber, Johannes A1 - Sperling, Wolfgang SP - 949 EP - 957 VL - 28 IS - 10 N2 - Suicide rate follows a seasonal pattern that is related to rising air temperature and global radiation. These findings are reproducible within different climatic regions. Numerous studies have attempted to explain this peak in relation to weather. However, many of these studies did not use meteorological data representative of the site of the suicide or attempted suicide, resulting in limitations of the findings. Previous studies also suffered from limitations in the methods of data analysis. The current study examined the relationship between weather, i.e., solar radiation, air temperature, and the rate of suicides and suicidality in the area of Mittelfranken, Germany, using regional meteorological data. Statistical risk estimation revealed associations between higher global radiation and air temperatures on the day of and day before suicide acts. The results could be of interest for general suicide prevention strategies. Future studies should examine additional possible factors of influence and concentrate on a strict standardized study design. The aim is to obtain reproducible data of the seasonal influences on suicide behavior, allowing for the comparison of data from different meteorological regions and patient subgroups. (Author correspondence: helge. mueller@uk-erlangen.de ).

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0742-0528 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/07420528.2011.618418 ID - ref1 ER -