[Mortality from suicides: Mexico, 1990-2001].

OBJECTIVE

To describe mortality from suicides in Mexico in 2001, as well as the main changes in the methods used to commit suicide and in trends by age and gender that have been observed since 1990, both for the country as a whole and for each state.

METHODS

For this descriptive study we utilized as information sources the official mortality records of the National Institute of Statistics, Geography, and Informatics (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática) for the period of 1990 through 2001. To calculate mortality rates we used the populations estimated in 2002 by the National Population Council (Consejo Nacional de Población). Mortality was described by sex, age group, and state, along with the changes seen over the period of 1990 through 2001 in the rates and methods of suicide. We used the direct method to standardize the rates, using as a reference the population data for the year 2000. To make statistical comparisons of the trends by age group and gender we used a test of parallelism utilizing the F statistic. The level of statistical significance of differences in suicide methods was determined with the chi-square test.

RESULTS

During 2001, 3,784 suicides were registered (3,110 of them in men and 674 in women), which represents a rate of 3.72 deaths from suicide per 100,000 persons, in a total national population of 101.8 million inhabitants. The states with the highest suicide mortality were Campeche and Tabasco (9.68 and 8.47 per 100,000, respectively). The lowest rates were seen in Chiapas and the state of Mexico (1.03 and 1.99 per 100,000, respectively). In 2001, mortality from suicides per 100,000 persons was 6.14 in men and 1.32 in women. The greatest increase by age group was seen in women 11-19 years old (from 0.8 per 100,000 in 1990 to 2.27 per 100,000 in 2001). The largest increase in men also occurred among those 11-19 years old (from 2.6 per 100,000 in 1990 to 4.5 per 100,000 in 2001). The highest rate (13.62 per 100,000 persons) was seen in men over 65 years of age. There were changes in suicide methods, with hanging now being the method most frequently used by both men and women.

CONCLUSIONS

Suicide is a growing problem in Mexico, and controlling it requires immediate steps. The rapid increase in this phenomenon, particularly among young men and young women, should produce a call to action to quickly implement measures aimed at reducing the magnitude of suicide.