Suicide - a statistical analysis by age, sex and method.

A total of 115 suicide cases dealt with by St. Pancras Coroner's Court, London, UK were studied in order to determine what patterns exist regarding the age and gender of the victims and chosen method of suicide. The results were compared with those of a 1998 study of suicides in England and Wales commissioned by the UK Home Office. It was found that suicides in the male population are approximately twice as common as female victims of suicide. In terms of gross number of cases, the peak age group for both males and females resorting to suicide was found to be the 15-44 age group. When the results were standardised according to 2001 census data, however, the most vulnerable age group per head of population for both sexes was 75 and over. Good agreement was found between the results of this study and those of the Home Office Study.