@article{ref1,
title="Suicides in visually impaired persons: a nation-wide register-linked study from Finland based on thirty years of data",
journal="PLoS one",
year="2015",
author="Meyer-Rochow, Victor Benno and Hakko, Helina and Ojamo, Matti and Uusitalo, Hannu and Timonen, Markku",
volume="10",
number="10",
pages="e0141583-e0141583",
abstract="Focusing on seasonality, gender, age, and suicide methods a Finnish nation-wide cohort-based study was carried out to compare suicide data between sighted, visually-impaired (WHO impairment level I-II, i.e., visual acuity >0.05, but <0.3) and blind (WHO impairment level III-V, i.e., visual acuity <0.05) victims. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) of age- and gender-matched populations from official 1982-2011 national registers were used. Group differences in categorical variables were assessed with Pearson's Chi-square or Fisher's Exact test and in continuous variables with Mann-Whitney U-test. Seasonality was assessed by Chi-square for multinomials; ratio of observed to expected number of suicides was calculated with 95% confidence level. Hanging, poisoning, drowning, but rarely shooting or jumping from high places, were preferred suicide methods of the blind. Mortality was significantly increased in the visually impaired (SMR = 1.3; 95% CI 1.07-1.61), but in gender-stratified analyses the increase only affected males (1.34; 95% CI = 1.06-1.70) and not females (1.24; 95% CI 0.82-1.88). Age-stratified analyses identified blind males of working age rather than older men (as in the general population) as a high risk group that requires particular attention. The statistically significant spring suicide peak in blind subjects mirrors that of sighted victims and its possible cause in the blind is discussed.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1932-6203",
doi="10.1371/journal.pone.0141583",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141583"
}