Factors associated with suicides in Wolverhampton: relevance of local audits exploring preventability

Abstract

Suicide rates and associated risk factors are known to change over time. The periodic evaluation of suicides in a particular locality may identify specific issues that may help in prevention efforts. The profile of 146 consecutive cases with suicide, open and narrative verdicts between January 2004 and July 2011 in Wolverhampton was studied in order to explore associated factors. Specific information about methods, mental health issues and stressors was collected. There was considerable variation in suicides in different wards of the city, with higher occurrences in inner-city areas. Male suicides were three times more common, and they were significantly younger than in female suicides. Common methods were hanging (52.7%) and poisoning (21.9%) involving a wide range of drugs. Life events were reported in 52.1% suicides, most frequently relational problems (28.1%), followed by physical illness and bereavement. Mental-health factors were associated with 63.0% of suicides, predominantly depression (45.9%) and alcohol and drug abuse (6.8%). The majority of the suicide victims (63.0%) were not in contact with mental-health services, including: most men (68.8%), young suicides up to age 34 (78.6%), the elderly (69.2%) and Asians (70.0%). A considerable proportion of these suicides had mental-health issues, mainly depression (42.4%) and alcohol or drug abuse (6.5%). Significantly more of them (69.6% vs. 22.2%) had stressors compared with suicides known to mental-health services. The findings of the study highlighted risk factors that may help prioritising intervention initiatives. It appears that local suicide audits may complement national information on suicide in designing appropriate local suicide-prevention strategies.