Suicide mortality in Southern Italy: 1998-2002.

The purpose of the study was to describe the deaths by suicides that occurred in an area of Southern Italy in the period 1998-2002. Data were obtained from death records, and population estimates for each year were provided by the National Institute of Statistics. A total of 367 suicides were retrieved. The number of suicides was stable for the 5 years recorded, with the highest value for 1998, ranging from 1.4% for ages 0 to 14 to 25.1% for ages 25 to 44 years. Age-specific rates of suicide showed that the highest rates were in those 75 to 84 years old. Rates are always higher in males, with a tendency to stability or decrease in all age groups in the years observed, except for males in the 45- to 64-year-old age range, in whom an increase from 5.71 to 7.28 was observed. The suicides increased proportionally with age, in those with the lowest level of education (53.3%) and among retirees (46.5%). Hanging/suffocation (44.1%) and jumping from high places (23.2%) were the most frequently used methods of suicide. Males had higher standardized suicide rates ranging from 5.4 per 100,000 in 1999 to 7.7 in 1998, whereas in females the range was 1.4 per 100,000 in 2001 to 2.4 in 1998. The study shows that suicide rates in Southern Italy are lower compared with national trends.