[Attempted suicides in the county of Funen in 1989/1990]

In 1985, the WHO office of the European region initiated an international research programme concerning attempted suicide: "The WHO/Euro Multicenter Study on Parasuicide". Seventeen centers representing 15 different countries are now participating in the study. The Danish center is sited at the Institute of Clinical Research. Odense University, the catchment area covering the county of Funen, which is presumed to be representative for the whole of Denmark. The project comprises 1) a monitoring study, and 2) a repetition-prediction study. Material and method of the first phase, the monitoring study, is described, and results from the first year of monitoring reported. In the period 1/4-1989 to 31/3-1990, 1,052 parasuicides were registered in the catchment area. Of these, 1,024 were committed by 765 persons being permanent residents of the county. Person-based rates were calculated as 183 and 216 per 100,000 population aged. 15 years and over, for males and females respectively. The sex ratio (m/f) was 0.85; maximum rates were to be found among 35-39 year-old males and among 35-39 and 45-49 year-old women, the average age being 37.7 years for males and 40.8 for females. Compared with data from the other participating centers, the frequency of parasuicide seems very high in Denmark, especially when considering, that the Danish center covers both urban and rural areas. The pooled data from the Multicenter Study indicate a tendency towards greater equality between the sexes, and an increased average age among suicide attempters; this tendency is especially obvious in the Danish material.