Citation

Zerbini T, Gianvecchio VAP, Regina D, Tsujimoto T, Ritter V, Singer JM. J. Forensic Leg. Med. 2017; 53: 22-24.

Affiliation

Department of Statistics, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: jmsinger@ime.usp.br.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jflm.2017.10.010

PMID

29125998

Abstract

The main goal of this study was to evaluate the association between daily cases of hanging suicides and meteorological conditions in São Paulo, Brazil. We considered a retrospective observational study based on the analysis of all necroscopic medical-expert reports available in digital form from the central unit of the Instituto Médico Legal (Medical Legal Institute) of São Paulo between July 1, 2006 and June 31, 2007. The meteorological variables were combined via Principal Components Analysis. In order to explain their association with the frequency of suicides, Poisson regression models were employed. The analysis suggests that hotter and brighter days are associated with higher incidence of hanging suicides.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Forensic psychiatry; Meteorological factors; Principal component analysis; Regression analysis; Suicide