TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1998//
TI  - Occurrence of suicide and seasonal variation
JO  - Revista de saude publica
A1  - Retamal, P.
A1  - Humphreys, D.
SP  - 408
EP  - 412
VL  - 32
IS  - 5
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To review the estimated suicide rates for the Region Metropolitan, the main socio-political center in Chile, for the period 1979-1994, and to determine whether they follow a seasonal pattern. METHOD: Data available for the period 1979-94 at the Forensic Services in Chile was analyzed using Analyses of variance. RESULTS: It was register 5,386 suicides. While the "warm" months (October, November, December & January) concentrated 39.0% of cases, the so called "cold" months reported 28.7%. This contrast is made even clearer by the month-to-month analysis, showing the highest suicide rate in December (10.6%) against the lowest rate in June (7.0%). Further statistical analysis revealed these differences to be significant. CONCLUSION: The study shows that in Chile, representing as it does the Southern Hemisphere, the suicide rates tend to present a seasonal variation as has elsewhere been determined for in the North Hemisphere.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0034-8910
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -