Methods of Choice in Completed Suicides: Gender Differences and Review of Literature

Tanuj Kanchan · Ritesh George Menezes

134 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Forensic Sciences

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Suicide and Self-Harm Studies Injury Epidemiology and Prevention Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse

Abstract

Suicide is an important public health hazard worldwide. A 4-year retrospective study from January 2000 to December 2003 was conducted to identify the favored methods in realized suicides among males and females in the west coastal region of India. During the study period, a total of 539 cases of suicidal deaths were autopsied. Males were predominantly affected (male: female-1.9:1). The age of the victims ranged from 13 to 90 years in males (mean = 40.1 years, median = 37.0 years) and 15 to 85 years in females (mean = 36.6 years, median = 32.0 years). Most favored method of suicide amongst males and females was hanging (36.9%, n = 199) followed by poisoning (34.7%, n = 187). Male dominance was apparent for each method of suicide except for self-immolation. Males were relatively more likely to use hanging and poisoning while females were more likely to prefer drowning and self-immolation as methods of suicide. Relatively younger females (mean = 33.0 years, median = 32.0 years) preferred hanging as a method of suicide when compared to males (mean = 42.4 years, median = 40.0 years). Among females, significantly younger females resorted to hanging when compared to older females who preferred drowning. On investigating the various theories proposed for choice of suicide methods in males and females in different regions we conclude that preference of method of suicide in men and women is complexly determined. In this region, availability, accessibility, popularity, and socioacceptability seem to be the major determinants in the choice of methods among males and females rather than violence associated and lethality of the method. Females were as likely to use lethal and violent methods as males in this region.

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References

2000Suicide: A 15‐Year Review of the Sociological Literature Part II: Modernization and Social Integration Perspectives 1994Gender differences in completed and attempted suicides 2000Method Choice, Intent, and Gender in Completed Suicide 2002Access to Firearms and Risk for Suicide in Middle-Aged and Older Adults 2004The epidemiology of case fatality rates for suicide in the northeast 2008Lethality of suicide methods 2006Gender, place, and method of suicide 2003Burnt wives—a study of suicides

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2014Suicide in South Asia: a scoping review 2011Preference of lethal methods is not the only cause for higher suicide rates in males 2021The national suicide prevention strategy in India: context and considerations for urgent action 2022Why are women more likely to attempt suicide than men? Analysis of lifetime suicide attempts among US adults in a nationally representative sample 2010Demographics of suicide victims in Sweden in relation to their blood–alcohol concentration and the circumstances and manner of death

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