Suicide mortality in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil: a cross-sectional analysis of cases, 2017-2018

to analyze the epidemiological and toxicological profile of suicide cases in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in 2017 and 2018.

this was a cross-sectional study with data from police incident reports and state General Forensic Institute records; multiple correspondence analyses were performed and logistic regression models were built.

there were 2,564 suicides (11.3/100,000 inhabitants/year), mostly involving males (79.4%), and the 50-54 years age group (10.3%); the main method was hanging (72.5%); positive results for ethanol were found in 29.1% of cases and for other psychotropic drugs in 36.1% of cases; young people were 4.5 times (95%CI 2.7;7.7) and 2.4 times (95%CI 1.5;3.6) more likely to be the victims when there were positive results for an illegal substance or parental absence, respectively.

male and adult victims predominated, hanging was the most common means, and, in one third of the cases, psychotropic drugs were present.