Incidence of Suicide in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran

Background: Suicide is a major problem world-wide. The aim of the present study was to etermine the incidence of suicide in East Azerbaijan province, Iran. Methods: The study used collected data from the Systematic registration within East Azerbaijan province from 2010 to 2011. We analysed some characteristics of the cases of suicide based on the health system database. Variables such as demographics, outcomes (fatal/nonfatal), and methods used were recorded. Data was analysed using Chi-square and T-test. Results: A total of 3,768 reported cases of suicide were analysed. More cases were reported from married people. The incidence rate of suicide was 101.3 per 100,000. Most of the attempted suicides were observed in younger people. The number of attempted suicides was higher in women (63.7%) than in men (36.3%). The most frequent method of commiting suicide in both sexes was drug overdose. A statistically significant relationship was observed between suicide’s outcome and gender, job, marital status, and education (P 0.001). The case fatality rate among males was significantly higher than that in females (OR=3.7, 95% CI: 2.5–5.8). Hanging (72.3%) and drug overdose (0.9%) had respectively the highest and the lowest case fatality rates. Drug overdose was slightly more frequent among women than in men (91.3% versus 84.2%). The rate of poisoning increased gradually until the age-group 45-54 years. Also, drug overdose was more prevalent among single individuals than in married people. Conclusion: Due to the high incidence of completed suicides, it is recommended that counselling centres be established for mental ill-health, especially a suicide hotline with appropriate availability to all population