Suicide and Socio-demography: An Ecological Study from India

Abstract

Background: Recent studies are coming out assessing the relationship between suicide rates and various ecological variables. However, information on the association between suicide rate and ecological variables in India has been limited. We aimed to measure the association of suicide rate with religion, literacy, gross domestic product, human development index, life expectancy, fertility, urbanization, and unemployment in India. Methods: We extracted 36 states or union territories of India and their suicide rate, the proportion of Hindu and Muslim populations, literacy rate, per capita gross domestic product (GDP), Human Development Index (HDI), life expectancy, fertility rate, urbanization, and unemployment rate. We assessed the association with rate and other ecological variables mentioned. Results: Suicide rates were positively correlated with the percentage of Hindu population in the state (rs = 0.38, p = .022), literacy rate (rs = 0.368, p = .027), and GDP (rs = 0.61, p = .001), whereas they were negatively correlated with fertility (rs = –0.442, p = .039) and unemployment rate (rs = –0.4, p = .015). We did not find any significant association between suicide rate and Muslim populations, HDI, life expectancy, and urbanization. Conclusion: This study’s findings identified several associations between ecological variables and suicide rates. However, based on the nature of the analysis, a cautious interpretation and further investigations are warranted.