Alcohol Attributable Fraction of Suicide Mortality

Abstract

Background: Suicide is one of the main causes ofpremature mortality in Belarus, brining considerable losses of human lives. There is strong evidence of a crucial role of alcohol in explanation of high suicide rate and its profound fluctuations over the past decades in this country. The aim of this study was to examine the relation between the overall alcohol consumption and suicide mortality rates in Belarus. Method: Trends in alcohol consumption per capita and age-standardized male and female suicide rates from 1980 to 2010 were analyzed employing autoregressive integrated moving average (A RIM A) time series analysis. Results: Alcohol consumption is significantly associated with both male and female suicide rates. The results suggest that 1 litre increase in overall alcohol consumption would result in a 7.4% increase in the male suicide rates and 3.2% increase in female suicide rates. The estimated effects of alcohol consumption on the agespecific suicide rates for men ranging from 0.024 (15-29 age group) to 0.082 (30-44 and 45-59 age groups). The estimated effects of alcohol consumption on age specific rates for women were positive for age groups 15-29 (0.017), 30-44 (0.047), 45-59 (0.039) and 60-74 (0.017). Conclusions: The outcome of this study provides indirect support for the hypothesis that alcohol played a crucial role in the fluctuation in suicide mortality rate in Belarus during recent decades.