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Suicide rates in the developing world are grossly under-reported

Evaluation of suicide rates in rural India using verbal autopsies BMJ Volume 326, pp 1121-2

Centred on 85 villages in the Kaniyambadi region of southern India, researchers used verbal autopsies – an agreement on cause of death by a local team of health workers – to gather data on deaths between 1994 and 1999.

The average suicide rate for the 6 year period was 95 per 1000,000. Older men were more likely to commit suicide than younger men. Most women who committed suicide were aged 15-24 or older than 65. There were more suicides among women than among men in the 15-24 years age group.

This study shows that where coroners' verdicts are not available, verbal autopsies can give a good idea of the cause of death from suicide, say the authors. Recent studies in India have under-reported suicide rates by 2 to 3 times.

To accurately monitor suicide in the developing world, however, sentinel centres are needed, they conclude.

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