The agricultural population stands out from other working populations due to a higher mortality rate from suicide. As part of the interministerial roadmap to combat distress in the agricultural sector, Santé publique France has explored the feasibility of using data from emergency department visits to implement reactive territorial targeting of the most at-risk agricultural areas.

Data on emergency department visits for suicidal behavior (SB) from 2018 to 2022, sourced from the Surveillance sanitaire des urgences et des décès system (Health Surveillance of Emergency Visits and Deaths), were analyzed and cross-referenced with data from the 2020 Agricultural Census. Trends in the rate of emergency department visits for SB were broken down by agricultural density quartiles at the national level and by region to monitor evolving patterns.

In mainland France, the rate of emergency department visits for suicidal behavior increases with agricultural density. The average rate of emergency department visits in municipalities with the highest agricultural density is significantly higher than in those with the lowest agricultural density. This trend is observed in most regions. Regarding regional temporal trends, these are generally upward, although disparities exist.

By cross-referencing data on emergency department visits for suicidal behavior with agricultural density at the municipal level, we can construct a tool for monitoring the evolution of SB. These preliminary results open up opportunities for territorial targeting to prioritize the deployment of local public health policies, particularly training for the early detection of SB.