Trend Analysis of Suicide Mortality and Years of Life Lost from 2016 to 2021 in Southern Iran

Suicide as the commonest psychiatric emergency imposes a heavy burden on communities. We aimed to evaluate the years of life lost (YLLs) due to premature death from suicide in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Iran.

Data regarding suicidal deaths were extracted from the Forensic Medicine Organization. The YLL of each year were calculated among gender and age groups. The YLL calculation was performed using the 2015 WHO excel calendars template. The Join Point Regression method was used to examine the trend of the crude mortality rate, the standardized mortality rate, and the YLL rate.

Overall, 572 people died by suicide between 2016 and 2021 (63.5% in males and 36. 5% in females). The main method of death in most cases was hanging (52.8%). The total YLL due to premature death in the 6 year– period was 9248 (4.2 per 1000 persons) in males, 5602 (2.6 per 1000 persons) in females. Hanging (7909) compromised the largest YLL category between different methods of suicide. According to the joinpoint regression analysis, the 6-year trend of YLL rate due to premature mortality was increasing in males: the annual percent change (APC) was 4.8% (95% CI 1.0 to 8.7, P=0.024) and stable trend for females.

The YLL was higher in men than in women. Effective training interventions should be designed and implemented to reduce the incidence of suicide.