Características de las personas que consumaron suicidio en la ciudad de Santa Marta (Colombia) durante el año 2002: un informe de casos

Abstract

Background: Although the suicide is a growing phenomenon in the world there are not many studies about it in Colombia and particularly in Santa Marta. Investigations show suicide rate in the Americas among 2 and 13 per 100.000 people, nearly, in Colombia the suicide rate have changed in an important number in the last 20 years among 3 and 5 per 100.000 people. Meanwhile the rate in Santa Marta is among 3.3 and 7.8 per 100.000 people in the last few years. Objective: Descriptive study. The registered suicides by the Legal Medicine and Forensic Science Institute were identified. The additional information was taken from the victim’s family’sinterviews. Results: A total of 14 suicide cases were reported. This represents a rate of 3.3 suicides per 100.000 people. The range age of the victims was between 14 and 44 year-old with average of 24.2 years (SD 9.8) Nine cases (64.2%) were male and five (38.2%) were female. The scholastic showed that seven cases (50%) had a secondary school certificate, five (35.7%) unfinished secondary school and two (14.3%) studied Junior High. Twelve cases (85.7%) were single and two (14.3%) had a stable partner. Ten cases (71.4%) lived in low stratum and four (28.6%) lived in medium-low stratum. Conclusions: The suicide rate in Santa Marta is comparable to the national average and it is in the reported rank for the American continent. It is needed mayor investigation on this public health problem and it is necessary to design preventive programs, particularly, for high-risk population.