Mortality by suicide in the Brazilian population, 1996-2015: what’s the predominant trend?
Abstract Background Suicide is one of the three most common causes of death worldwide and varies according to sex and age. Objective to analyze the trend of suicide mortality in the Brazilian regions from 1996 to 2015, and its association with sex and age. Method Ecological study of a time series using the suicide deaths analyzed by regions from 1996 to 2015, contained in the Mortality Information System. We used Prais-Winsten regression model to evaluate the trend of suicide mortality; and chi-square to compare the percentages of mortality by sex and age. Results There was a growing trend of deaths by suicide in the North (1.73%, Coef = 0.007, p-value <0.001), Northeast (2.30%, Coef = 0.010, p-value = 0.006) and Southeast (1.41%, Coef = 0.006, p-value <0.001) and decreasing in the South (-0.57%, Coef = -0.002, p-value = 0.001). Prevalence of men in the percentage of deaths (p <0.001). Conclusion Suicide is considered an important public health problem, requiring actions to disseminate risk and prevention programs.