ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the characteristics and the long-term trend of suicidal deaths among the rural population in Hubei province. Methods Data on suicide deaths from 1984 through 2008 were released from Macheng Death Registration System and analyzed by year, gender and age. Results The suicidal death rates were decreasing during the last 25 years in Macheng city, with the standardized suicide mortality rapidly decreasing from 113.29/100 000 in 1984 to 20.11/100 000 in 2008. The proportion of suicide deaths in the total deaths caused by injuries were declining but not obviously. Suicide was still the leading cause of deaths among all the deaths due to injuries.Number of suicidal deaths among females was outnumbered the males during the last 25 years,representing 50%-60% in total suicide deaths annually. The proportion of suicide deaths among the elderly aged 65 and over had significantly increased in the recent years, which accounting for 46.81% of all the suicidal deaths in 2008. Conclusion Suicide remained the leading cause of injury deaths among the population in this area, especially in females. Attention should be paid to the females and the elderly aged 65 and over,in the rural areas.