title: Incidence of note-leaving remains constant despite increasing suicide rates.
abstract: Suicide notes (SN) are potentially valuable sources of information about the psychological states of the suicidal person. It was hypothesized that there was a significant relation between suicide rate and note-leaving rate and that the incidence of note-leaving was increased during prolonged economic recession. During 21 years (1981-2001) in Kobe, of a total of 18 558 violent deaths, 5161 were due to suicide (27.8%), with 3417 male cases (66.2%) and 1754 female cases (33.8%). For each year the annual suicide rates and note-leaving rates were calculated, and this represents the percentage of committed suicides in which SN were left, among all suicide victims. In spite of the prolonged economic slump, the note-leaving rate remained almost constant (23.4-36.2%). Pearson's correlation coefficient showed no significant correlation between suicide rate and note-leaving rates (r = 0.27, P = 0.23). The finding that the incidence of note-leaving remains constant despite increasing suicide rates may suggest that the reasons for suicide do not affect note-leaving. There are cross-cultural, ethnic, and racial variations in suicidal behaviors. Although this finding may be specific in Japan, further studies of SN are needed to help clarify the suicidal states of mind.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 1-757 Asahimachi, Niigata 951-8510, Japan. tshioiri@med.niigata-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Toshiki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shioiri
authors.forename: Akiyoshi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Akazawa
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nushida
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: Maki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kojika-Maruyama
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Someya
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data