title: Higher environmental temperature and global radiation are correlated with increasing suicidality--a localized data analysis.
abstract: Suicide rate follows a seasonal pattern that is related to rising air temperature and global radiation. These findings are reproducible within different climatic regions. Numerous studies have attempted to explain this peak in relation to weather. However, many of these studies did not use meteorological data representative of the site of the suicide or attempted suicide, resulting in limitations of the findings. Previous studies also suffered from limitations in the methods of data analysis. The current study examined the relationship between weather, i.e., solar radiation, air temperature, and the rate of suicides and suicidality in the area of Mittelfranken, Germany, using regional meteorological data. Statistical risk estimation revealed associations between higher global radiation and air temperatures on the day of and day before suicide acts. The results could be of interest for general suicide prevention strategies. Future studies should examine additional possible factors of influence and concentrate on a strict standardized study design. The aim is to obtain reproducible data of the seasonal influences on suicide behavior, allowing for the comparison of data from different meteorological regions and patient subgroups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany. helge. mueller@uk-erlangen.de
authors.forename: Helge
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Biermann
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Renk
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Reulbach
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ströbel
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kornhuber
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sperling
mesh_terms: D004777:Environment; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D012621:Seasons; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013472:Sunlight; D013696:Temperature