Abstract

SANCHEZ, Ricardo; OREJARENA, Silvia  and  GUZMAN, Yahira. Characteristics of suicides in Bogotá, 1985-2000. Rev. salud pública [online]. 2004, vol.6, n.3, pp.217-234. ISSN 0124-0064.

OBJECTIVE: To establish how suicide's typologies are related with a group of variables described as risk factors and to describe the stability of these typologies during a period of 15 years. METHODS: Observational-analytic study based on autopsy registers of suicides in Bogotá in 1985, 1990, 1995 and 2000. In order to determine typologies, the method of multivarioate analysis of multiple correspondences was employed. RESULTS: 171 cases of suicide were detected in 1985, 222 cases in 1990, 273 in 1995 and 329 in 2000. Physical or mental co-morbidity, the use of psychoactive substances, access to lethal methods of injury, and the rare use of fire weapons by women, were constant factors during the years studied. At the same time, changes in some typologies were related to the presence of addictions in women and to HIV / AIDS. CONCLUSIONS: Although relatively constant suicide typologies exist during the 15-year period studied, changes in the epidemiological profiles and new life styles generate modifications of these typologies. This suggests that suicide risk factors are a dynamic element that is modified as time passes.

Keywords : Suicide; trends; risk factors; social behavior; Bogotá.

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