Suicide among the Brazilian older population: mortality rates between 2007 and 2017

• Grant number: 20/09433-0
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): September 01, 2020
• Effective date (End): August 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal researcher: Cleusa Pinheiro Ferri
• Grantee: Pâmelli Lopez Kamel
• Home Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Population aging is a worldwide phenomenon. In the last decade, Brazil has faced four times greater growth in the population over 60 years compared to the general population. The change in the psychosocial circumstances faced by this population group contributes to the increasing numbers of suicides in this age group. Most studies related to this topic focus on the younger population and there is no detailed and updated description of suicide in the elderly Brazilian population. Objectives: To estimate and compare suicide rates in the population over 60 years of age in 2007 and 2017 in Brazil and in its five regions stratified by age and sex. Methodology: Analysis of data provided by the Ministry of Health's Mortality Information System, using the events from codes X60 to X84 of the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), as well as population estimates from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). Suicide rates for the population over 60 between 2007 and 2017 will be estimated. These will be stratified according to sex, age and region and compared between themselves and between 2007 and 2017. For comparisons between regions and between the years 2007 and 2017, standardization by sex and age will be performed using the demographic characteristics of the Brazilian population presented by the 2010 Brazilian Demographic Census as a reference. In addition, it will be assessed whether there is an association of these estimates with regional socioeconomic indicators. Expected results: To contribute to the epidemiological knowledge of the topic addressed, describing its impact on the older population, identifying vulnerable groups within this age group, with a contribution to health management in the formulation of health policies and interventions aimed at suicide.