TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2008//
TI  - Suicide methods in Europe: a gender-specific analysis of countries participating in the"European Alliance Against Depression"
JO  - Journal of epidemiology and community health
A1  - Värnik, Airi
A1  - Kolves, Kairi
A1  - van der Feltz-Cornelis, Christina M.
A1  - Marusic, Andrej
A1  - Oskarsson, Hogni
A1  - Palmer, Ann
A1  - Reisch, Thomas
A1  - Scheerder, Gert
A1  - Arensman, Ella
A1  - Aromaa, Esa
A1  - Giupponi, Giancarlo
A1  - Gusmäo, Ricardo
A1  - Maxwell, Margaret
A1  - Pull, Charles
A1  - Szekely, Andras
A1  - Sola, Victor Perez
A1  - Hegerl, Ulrich
SP  - 545
EP  - 551
VL  - 62
IS  - 6
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To identify the most frequent gender-specific suicide methods in Europe. DESIGN: Proportions of seven predominant suicide methods utilised in 16 countries participating in the European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD) were reported in total and cross-nationally. Relative risk (RR) relating to suicide methods and gender was calculated. To group countries by pattern of suicide methods, hierarchical clustering was applied. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Data on suicide methods for 119,122 male and 41,338 female cases in 2000-4/5 from 16 EAAD countries, covering 52% of European population were obtained. RESULTS: Hanging was the most prevalent suicide method among both males (54.3%) and females (35.6%). For males, hanging was followed by firearms (9.7%) and poisoning by drugs (8.6%); for females, by poisoning by drugs (24.7%) and jumping from a high place (14.5%). Only in Switzerland did hanging rank as second for males after firearms. Hanging ranked first among females in eight countries, poisoning by drugs in five and jumping from a high place in three. In all countries, males had a higher risk than females of using firearms and hanging and a lower risk of poisoning by drugs, drowning and jumping. Grouping showed that countries might be divided into five main groups among males; for females, grouping did not yield clear results. CONCLUSIONS: Research on suicide methods could lead to the development of gender-specific intervention strategies. Nevertheless, other approaches, such as better identification and treatment of mental disorders and the improvement of toxicological aid should be put in place.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0143-005X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech.2007.065391
ID  - ref1
ER  -