Comparison of Factors Associated with Suicide Among Employed Women and Housewives

Suicide is one of the major socio-medical problems all over the world. In women it happens four times more than men. According to some researches، employment is considered as a protective factor in suicidal attempts. The present Study، therefore، comparatively analyzes the relative distributions of some risk factors of suicide between housewives and employed women in suicide attempt. An intersectional and descriptive-analytic study was conducted at two referral centers of Isfahan province، Iran، which included the Emergency Department of Noor Hospital and Imam Mousa Kazem hospital. The study was consisted of 600 cases of 18-60 year old women، who had made suicidal attempts. The sampling was simple -nonprobable- and consecutive and the research tool was patients’ information recorded in two questionnaire forms. Data was analyzed using chi-square test by SPSS 18. 0 statistical software. Most patients were housewives (85. 5%). Most of the employed women as well as the housewives were 18-25 years old (60% and 63. 6% respectively)، married (61% and 56. 3%)، without strong religious beliefs (59. 8% and 60%) and with diploma level education (66% and 56. 6%). Past history of suicide and psychological disorders in employed and housewife women were 34. 5%، 39. 38% and 32. 2%، 39. 4% respectively. There is a significant relationship between the hours of work and the number of suicide in employed women; the decrease in working hours of the employed women may result in less suicide in them. Although the frequency of suicidal attempt in employed women was less than the housewives، the difference in relative frequency of risk factors of suicide was not significant in both groups. In addition، employment cannot compensate for family problems.