Background:

The aim of this study was to know the suicide mortality rates in Navarra and Spain and to compare their time trends during the period 2000-2015.

Methods:

Suicide data were obtained from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística [INE], Spain’s National Statistics Institute. During all the period, the coding of cause of death in Navarra was carried out using data from forensic autopsies, while in some Spanish regions this process started after 2010. A Joinpoint time series regression model was used to assess the time trend and estimate the annual percent change [APC] of the rates by sex and 4 age groups.

Results:

Suicide mortality in Spain showed a significant downward trend in the overall rate between 2000-2011 [APC of -1.93% in males and -2.19% in females] followed by a significant increase in 2012-2015 [APC: 3.65% in men and 7.60% in women]. No inflection points were observed in men aged 25-44 [APC:1.26%], 45-64 [APC: 1.63%], and women over 65 years [APC:-2.18%]. In Navarra, global rates in men showed a non significant decrease [APC:-1.56%] and a significant decrease in the group of men between 25-44 years [APC:-3.19%]. Among women we observed a non significant increase [APC: 0.74%].

Conclusions:

The rise in overall suicide rates observed in Spain since 2011, that was not observed in Navarre, could be influenced by the improvements in coding methods in several Spanish regions. However, this could not explain the decrease observed during the all period in men aged 25-44, that was even larger in Navarra.

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