© 1988 Oxford University Press
research-article |
Sex-Specific Suicide Trends in Canada, 19711985

*Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Oncology, Alberta Cancer Board, Tom Baker Cancer Centre 133129th Street NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N2. Canada
Department of Psychiatry, Univenity of Calgary
Huchcroft S A (Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Oncology, Alberta Cancer Board, Tom Baker Cancer Centre, 133129th Street NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N2, Canada) and Tanney B L Sex-specific suicide trends in Canada 19711985. International Journal of Epidemiology 1988, 17: 839843.
The present study analysed changes in sex-specific suicide rates in Canada from 1971 to 1985. A significant increase in the male-to-female ratio of suicide rates was observed. Our analysis of sex-specific age-adjusted rates revealed that this increasing ratio was a function of both increasing male rates and decreasing female rates, but that the latter was more marked. This divergence of male and female rates within the last decade and a half parallels similar changes noted both in the US and in the majority of European countries, but contrasts with a pattern of converging rates throughout North America and much of Europe prior to 1970.
Received 1 April 1988