Cyclic time patterns of death from suicide in northern Finland

Background: Time patterns of suicide have been attributed not only to social and psychological factors but also to direct geophysical effects. Seasonal variations in day length and temperature seem likely to contribute to the timing of the suicide process. Methods: We analysed all suicides ( n=1658)...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of affective disorders 2004, Vol.78 (1), p.11-19
Main Authors: Partonen, Timo, Haukka, Jari, Viilo, Kaisa, Hakko, Helinä, Pirkola, Sami, Isometsä, Erkki, Lönnqvist, Jouko, Särkioja, Terttu, Väisänen, Erkki, Räsänen, Pirkko
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Catchment Area (Health)
Female
Finland - epidemiology
Humans
Incidence
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Periodicity
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Season
Seasons
Suicide
Suicide - statistics & numerical data
Temperature
Time
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: Time patterns of suicide have been attributed not only to social and psychological factors but also to direct geophysical effects. Seasonal variations in day length and temperature seem likely to contribute to the timing of the suicide process. Methods: We analysed all suicides ( n=1658) committed in a northern province of Finland during a period of 153 months. Daily data on the number of suicides, local weather conditions and geomagnetic storms were compiled and modelled with Poisson regression using the province population as the denominator, and with the means of harmonic series for seasonal variation. Time series analysis of monthly numbers of suicides was carried out using the seasonal-trend decomposition procedure based on loess. Results: Marked fluctuations in the number of suicides occurred during the study period ( P=0.01). There was significant seasonal variation in death from suicide ( P=0.01), but analysis of the meteorological data showed no evidence of effect on the risk of suicide. Limitations: Assessment of mental disorder or alcohol consumption was missing, since only data derived from death certificate was available for each case. Conclusions: The seasonal effect was significant, but remained modest compared to sex and age as risk factors for suicide. Preventive measures need to be tailored according to time of the year.
ISSN:0165-0327
1573-2517
DOI:10.1016/S0165-0327(02)00236-7