Suicide mortality in Piedmont Region (Northern Italy): epidemiological suggestions for prevention

Abstract

to describe intentional self-harm related deaths in Piedmont Region (Northern Italy) analysing trends by gender, age, area of residence, socio-economic level. descriptive study of mortality using data from the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat). resident population in Piedmont Region in the period 2003-2014. age-standardized suicide (ICD-10: X60-X84) rates, by gender, health district of residence and educational level; frequencies of suicide method and place of occurrence by gender and age. in a context of declining injury related mortality, especially that due to traffic accidents, the regional trend of suicides shows only a slight decrease, becoming the main cause of injury deaths since 2009, equal to 21% of all injury deaths in the studied period. Among the largest Italian Regions, Piedmont is the one with the highest rate of suicide. There are no significant trend variations related to the recent period of economic crisis. The occurrence is higher among men in general and particularly in older people, persons with low educational level and those living in mountain areas. The main suicide method used by women is "jumping from a high place" (36.7%) while the main one for men is "hanging, strangulation and suffocation" (50%). This is globally the most frequent method for all ages. "Self-poisoning" gains importance between 30 and 49 years old. Suicides occur for over half of cases in home, without any difference by gender and age. suicides are a public health and social concern. Yet despite its extent, this problem is still not adequately considered in public health prevention programmes. Important contributions to a deeper understanding of the determinants can be obtained from health information systems, in particular data from emergency care and multiple causes of deaths records.