Services on Demand
Journal
Article
Indicators
Cited by SciELO
Access statistics
Related links
Cited by Google
Similars in SciELO
Similars in Google
Share
Revista de la Facultad de Medicina
Print version ISSN 0120-0011
Abstract
MEDINA-PEREZ, Óscar Adolfo; DIAZ-TELLEZ, Ángel Saúl and ROZO-DAVID, Andrés José. Characterization of suicide in Antioquia, Colombia adolescents. 2000-2010. rev.fac.med. [online]. 2015, vol.63, n.3, pp.431-438. ISSN 0120-0011. https://doi.org/10.15446/revfacmed.v63n3.43798.
Introduction. Suicide rates have increased in recent years, as indicated by various sources, including the World Health Organization (WHO), in regard with it, it is required precise knowledge of the characteristics in order to make more effective the intervention efforts. Therefore, the objective of this study was to characterize suicide in adolescents from Antioquia, in the period 2000-2010. Methods. A quantitative, descriptive and transversal study was conducted. Suicides information was obtained from death certificates registered with the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE); person, time and place variables were analyzed. Descriptive measures and rates were calculated. Results. 693 suicides were recorded in the eleven years studied. Of these, 63.2% were men; 83% were over the age fourteen; 80.1% were single; 42.1% chose hanging. The average age was placed at 16.5 years (SD 2.16). The highest proportion of suicides occurred in the months of July, with 10.7%; 2005 was the year with the highest proportion of suicides with 11.1%. The rate for the period was 5.7 per hundred thousand adolescents (7.1 in men and 4.3 in women). The highest risk was in the municipalities in the Northeast, which recorded a rate of 8.8 per hundred thousand teenagers. Conclusions. The study shows that teen suicide is a serious public health problem in Antioquia and reveals its main features, contributing to the creation of prevention programs.
Keywords : Adolescents; Colombia; Mortality; Suicide.