Patterns of suicide mortality in Russia.

While Russia perennially has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, researchers had little access to valid data during the Soviet era to examine this issue. Transparency increased following the dissolution of the USSR, and this article employs newly available vital statistics data to describe the demographic, temporal, and spatial patterns of suicide in Russia. The discussion reveals that suicide mortality in Russia is among the highest in the world and is more than three times higher than in the United States; exhibited radical changes between 1984 and 1994; varies widely within the country, with a general increase in rates from west to east; and is highest among working-age males.