Analysis of Suicide Cases from Ankara Province: A 3-year Emergency Medical Services Experience

AIM: While the term “completed suicide” refers to suicides that have resulted in death,”suicide attempts” refers to all attempts that do not result in death. Analyzing EMS cases is a reliable method of obtaining data on suicide attempts and completed suicides. We aimed to determine the relationship between the occurrences of cases on weekdays, weekends, public holidays or long holidays and case characteristics. METHODOLOGY: We evaluated EMS data of Ankara Province on completed suicide and suicide attempts including the date range 01.01.2017- 31.12.2019. We evaluated the data in terms of age, gender, mortality at the scene, and suicide method. In addition, we evaluated the data according to the hour, day, month, season, and year of the cases. We classified the suicide cases according to their occurrence on weekdays, weekends, public holidays or long holidays. RESULTS: During the 3-year period included in the study, Ankara EMS assigned ambulances to a total of 940,546 cases. Of these cases, 8231 (0.875%) were suicide attempts and completed suicides. Suicide attempts were most frequent in males, in the 20-24 age group, in summer, in July, on Sundays, and between the hours 18:00 and 24:00.. Completed suicides were most frequent in males, in the 30-34 age group, in spring, in May, on Mondays and Tuesdays, and between the hours 18:00 and 24:00. CONCLUSION: We evaluated different characteristics of suicide cases of EMS, namely differences among gender, age, days of the week, months, and the various methods used by suicide victims. Of all suicide attempts, more than half were male, and male patients were much more likely to face completed suicides. Both suicide attempts and completed suicides were seen in younger adults, namely between ages 20 to 34. The most common method in suicide attempts was self-poisoning by drugs Considering completed suicides, the most frequent methods used by patients were self-harm by hanging, by use of firearms, and by jumping from a high place, respectively. Suicide attempts and completed suicides have peaked on weekends, public holidays, and religious holidays. In Turkey, there are only a few studies in the EMS field on this topic. Therefore, we believe that this study will contribute to the epidemiological evaluation of suicides and lead to better preparedness by the EMS teams. We hope that results of this study will help to prevent both suicides and suicide attempts.