Abstract
BackgroundSuicide accounts for over 58,000 deaths in Europe per annum, where suicide attempts are estimated to be 20 times higher. Males have been found to have a disproportionately lower rate of suicide attempts and an excessively higher rate of suicides compared to females. The gender difference in suicide intent is postulated to contribute towards this gender imbalance. The aim of this study is to explore gender differences in suicide intent in a cross-national study of suicide attempts. The secondary aims are to investigate the gender differences in suicide attempt across age and country.MethodsData on suicide attempts (acquired from the EU-funded OSPI-Europe project) was obtained from eight regions in Germany, Hungary, Ireland and Portugal. Suicide intent data was categorized into ‘Non-habitual Deliberate Self-Harm’ (DSH), ‘Parasuicidal Pause’ (SP), ‘Parasuicidal Gesture’ (SG), and ‘Serious Suicide Attempt’ (SSA), applying the Feuerlein scale. Gender differences in intent were explored for significance by using χ2-tests, odds ratios, and regression analyses.ResultsSuicide intent data from 5212 participants was included in the analysis. A significant association between suicide intent and gender was found, where ‘Serious Suicide Attempts’ (SSA) were rated significantly more frequently in males than females (p < .001). There was a statistically significant gender difference in intent and age groups (p < .001) and between countries (p < .001). Furthermore, within the most utilised method, intentional drug overdose, ‘Serious Suicide Attempt’ (SSA) was rated significantly more often for males than females (p < .005).ConclusionsConsidering the differences in suicidal intent between males and females highlighted by the current study, gender targeted prevention and intervention strategies would be recommended.
Highlights
Suicide accounts for over 58,000 deaths in Europe per annum, where suicide attempts are estimated to be 20 times higher
The data for the current study were obtained from the eight regions in the four participating countries, where each region adhered to the following standardised definition of Suicide Attempt: “an act with a non-fatal outcome in which an individual deliberately initiates a nonhabitual behaviour that, without intervention from others, will cause a self-harm, or deliberately ingests a substance in excess of the prescribed or generally recognised therapeutic dosage, and which is aimed at realising changes which the subject desired, via the actual or expected physical consequences” [28]
In total, 8189 suicide attempts were registered, the final sample consisted of 5212 subjects (63.65% of the complete OSPI-Europe sample), with 52.1% of the attempted suicides rated as a Serious Suicide Attempt (SSA), 20.6% as a Parasuidal Gesture (SG), 14.7% as a Parasuicidal Pause (SP) and 12.7% as Deliberate SelfHarm (DSH). 40.6% of the sample were males and 59.4% females, with a mean age of 39.16 years
Summary
Suicide accounts for over 58,000 deaths in Europe per annum, where suicide attempts are estimated to be 20 times higher. Major Depression (which is approximately twice as common in females, and is known to underlie more than half of all suicides) has been proposed to account for a higher incidence of Freeman et al BMC Psychiatry (2017) 17:234 suicidal behaviours in females [10, 11]. This could be a contributing factor to the lower rates of suicidal behaviour in males overall, this does not account for the excessive rate of completed male suicides compared to female suicides. Studies aimed to disentangle the gender gap have reported inconsistent findings; suicide intent has been at the forefront of suicide research in order to contribute to the explanation of this gender imbalance
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