title: Associations Between the Macroeconomic Indicators and Suicide Rates in India: Two Ecological Studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  While western studies have focused on the importance of psychiatric illnesses in the complex pathways leading to suicides, several Indian studies have highlighted the important contributions by economic, social, and cultural factors. Hence, we tested the hypothesis that annual national suicide rates and suicide rates of the different states in India were associated with macroeconomic indices.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the National crime records bureau, Ministry of finance, labour bureau, Government of India, population commission, and planning commission official portals, World Bank and the United Nations were accessed. We assessed the correlations of annual national and state-wise suicide rates with macroeconomic, health, and other indices using ecological study design for India, and for its different states and union territories.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We documented statistically significant associations between the suicide rates and per capita gross domestic product, consumer price index, foreign exchange, trade balance, total health expenditure as well as literacy rates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As recent economic growth in India is associated with increasing suicide rates, macroeconomic policies emphasizing equitable distribution of resources may help curtailing the population suicide rates in India.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India ; Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Anto P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Rajkumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Senthilkumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gayathri
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shyamsundar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Jacob
keywords: Economics; inequality; suicide