Gaxiola-Robles R, Bitzer-Quintero OK, García-González A, Celis-de la Rosa A

Language: Spanish
References: 12
Page: 383-386
PDF size: 30.08 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Objective: to determine if civil status acts as a risk factor in suicide and how it modifies according to gender, age and population size.
Methods: a retrospective study which analyzes information from the mortality data from the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information, from 1998 to 2002. Variables like suicides age, sex, cause of death, federal entity, population size and civil status were registered.
Results: single men showed twofold risk to commit suicide. Women did not show any associated risk to suicide according to civil status. The risk of married men to commit suicide increased gradually with age. Medium sized communities with less that 19,999 habitants presented the highest risk for habitants to commit suicide.
Conclusions: suicide is associated to gender especially to men who are not married and living in small and medium sized communities. One explanation could be the lack of integrated behavior defined by Emile Durkheim, where the physical density of society will determine behavior and ideas. This social structure phenomenon is called the “moral cocoon”. This works around the individual being less individualistic and granting him/her the feeling of belonging to a group.

REFERENCES

1. Durkheim E. El suicidio. Séptima edición. México: Ediciones Coyoacán; 2002.

2. Instituto Nacional de Geografía Estadística e Informática. Censo nacional de población y vivienda 2005. México: INEGI; 2006.

3. Hijar M, Rascón PR, Blanco MJ, López LM. Los suicidios en México. Características sexuales y geográficas (1979-1993). Salud Mental 1996;19: 14-21.

4. Krueckeber DA, Silvers AL. Projecting population, urban planning analysis: methods and models. New York: Wiley; 1974.

5. Verbrugger LM. Marital status and health. J Marriage Fam 1979;41:267-285.

6. Collins R. Cuatro tradiciones sociológicas. México: UAM; 1996. p. 191-255.

7. Organización Panamericana de la Salud. Informe mundial sobre la violencia y la salud. Washington, DC: OPS; 2003. p. 202-203.

8. Gerstel N, Riessman CK, Rosenfield S. Explaining the symptomatology of separated and divorces women and men: the role of material conditions and social networks. Soc Forces 1985; 64:84-101.

9. Preti A, Miotto P. Seasonality in suicide: the influence of suicide method, gender and age on suicide distribution in Italy. Psychiatry Res 1998;81:219-223.

10. Maris RW. Suicide. Lancet 2002;360:319-326.

11. Burnley IH. Socioeconomic and spatial differential in mortality and means of committing suicide in New South Wales, Australia 1985-91. Soc Sci Med 1995;41:687-698.

12. dos Santos-Silva I. Epidemiología del cáncer: principios y métodos. Organización Mundial de la Salud. Lyon, Francia: Agencia Internacional de Investigación sobre el Cáncer; 1999. p. 243-277.