Suicide Rate Computation - Methodological Inexactitude.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Suicide rates are computed on the basis of whole population without taking into consideration the cognitive capacity of children to appreciate death. This study was undertaken to find out the variability in suicide rate if children of various ages are excluded from computation of suicide rate Method: Suicide rates were computed taking the at risk population of India-above 6 yrs, 7 yrs, 8 yrs, and 9 yrs for the period 1991-2013, suicide data from the National Crimes Bureau statistics on Accidental Deaths and Suicides of Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. The data was analyzed for percentage increase for various ages. Results: Depending upon the cut-off age the rate increase over a twenty-three year period was from 11.2 to 14.6 and the percent increase was 16.1-33.7. Conclusion: A standardized definition of suicide and a thorough debate on child’s concept of death and ability to decide to decide on death across various cultures and regions is needed to understand the enormity of suicide.