Patterns of cuicide in cretan women

Abstract

In Greece so far little attention has been given to suicide among women and no systematic analysis has been reported. The goals of the current study were to estimate the proportion of female suicides on the island of Crete, Southern Greece; to describe the victims’ sociodemographic profile and suicide-related variables; and to identify potential changes in rates and suicide methods during a predefined time period or between age groups. A retrospective study was undertaken, reviewing all female suicides between 1999 and 2007, and information was extracted into a computerized database. The female suicide incidence in the region was estimated to be 3.2 per 100,000, 1.7 times higher than the corresponding incidence reported for mainland Greece. These women were more likely to be over 55 years of age, to have lived in the western part of the island and to have committed suicide by hanging and self-poisoning. The most interesting finding was that self-immolation accounted for the 4.8% of the female suicide cases in the study area, while there is no mention of suicide by burning in Greece hitherto