title: Identification of suicide risk factors in Medellín, Colombia: a case-control study of psychological autopsy in a developing country.
abstract: The incidence, methods and risk factors for suicide may vary among the different cultures, which makes necessary to study the risk factors for suicide in specific settings in order to design adequate intervention strategies. This study aims to determine the risk factors for suicide in Medellín (Colombia). It is a case-control study conducted among 108 individuals who committed suicide and 108 deceased in accidents, matched for age and gender. Both cases and controls were examined by means of psychological autopsy. Conditional logistic regression analysis identified the following factors: Adverse life events in the last six months (OR=11.81, 95% CI: 4.29-32.52), family history of suicide (OR=10.82, 95% CI: 2.23-52.47), major depressive episode (OR=4.58, 95% CI: 1.53-13.67) and expression of a wish to die (OR=3.54, 95% CI: 1.25-10.06). These findings may suggest that risk factors for suicide are similar across cultures.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Universidad de Antioquia and Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses, Medellin, Colombia. cpalacio@epm.net.co
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Palacio
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: García
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diago
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zapata
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lopez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003710:Demography; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013405:Suicide / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data