Suicide in women

Abstract

One of the most consistent findings about suicide is the lower rate among women than men. In England and Wales, for example, the male to female ratio is around 3:1 but higher in the younger age-groups. Similar sex differences are reported from many countries in the developing and developed worlds. 1 La Vecchia C Lucchini F Levi F Worldwide trends in suicide mortality. Acta Psychiatrica Scand. 1994; 90: 53-64 Crossref PubMed Scopus (135) Google Scholar A notable exception is China (where the sex difference is reversed), 2 Pritchard C Suicide in the People's Republic of China categorized by age and gender: evidence of the influence of culture on suicide. Acta Psychiatrica Scand. 1996; 93: 362-367 Crossref PubMed Scopus (97) Google Scholar and in several countries rates are high among immigrant women born in the Indian subcontinent. 3 Patel SP Gaw AC Suicide among immigrants from the Indian subcontinent:a review. Psychiatry Services. 1996; 47: 517-521 Crossref PubMed Scopus (73) Google Scholar Mortality among lone mothers in Sweden: a population studyThe increase of lone mothers in society shows financial, social, and health disadvantages. Nevertheless, the increased mortality risk of lone mothers seems to be partly independent of socioeconomic status and health selection into lone motherhood. For long-term lone mothers the risks may be underestimated when adjusting for selection bias by taking hospital discharge history into account, since these events may be part of the consequences of the stress of lone motherhood. Full-Text PDF Injury-related deaths among women aged 10–50 years in Bangladesh, 1996–97Intentional and unintentional injuries are a major cause of death among women aged 10–50 years in Bangladesh. Strategies to reduce injury-related deaths among women need to be devised. Full-Text PDF