Study reveals high suicide rates among young peopl...( Authors of a research letter in this we...),Health

The average suicide rate worldwide is around 14.5 per 100000 population (rates are lower in industrialised countries and higher in less-developed settings). Anuradha Bose from the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India, and colleagues prospectively assessed causes of death among young people (aged 10-19 years) in a rural area of southern India (population 108000).

Suicide rates were much higher than expected, accounting for between half and three-quarters of deaths among young women (a rate of 148 suicides per 100000 young women). Suicide accounted for around a quarter of all deaths among young men (an overall rate of 58 suicides per 100000 young men). Hanging and poisoning with pesticides were the commonest causes of death; possible risk factors for suicide included family conflicts, domestic violence, academic failures, unfulfilled romantic ideals, and mental illness.

Dr Bose comments: "We have identified rates of suicide that are several fold higher than those reported anywhere in the world, especially in young women. We suggest that the reported rates of suicide in other parts of India are low because identification of suicides is difficult owing to inefficient civil registration systems, non-reporting of deaths, variable standards in certifying death, and the legal and social consequences of suicide. We do not believe that our findings are a local aberration. There are no peculiar features in the Tamil Nadu area socially or ecologically that could account for a higher rate there. The system of surveillance and the method of assigning a cause of death in the Vellore study ensure that the coverage is good and the data are gathered prospectively and validated periodically... We believe that the rates reported here are the highest
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Lancet
1-Apr-2004