Gunshot suicides in England--a multicentre study based on coroners' records.
BACKGROUND: Gunshot suicides account for 2.5% of suicides in England and Wales. This amounts to more than 100 deaths per year. Information about such deaths may assist in the development of suicide prevention strategies. METHOD: We have examined coroners' inquest records for all gunshot suicid...
| Principais autores: | , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal article |
| Idioma: | English |
| Publicado em: |
2005
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| _version_ | 1826304189753458688 |
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| author | Sutton, L Hawton, K Simkin, S Turnbull, P Kapur, N Bennewith, O Gunnell, D |
| author_facet | Sutton, L Hawton, K Simkin, S Turnbull, P Kapur, N Bennewith, O Gunnell, D |
| author_sort | Sutton, L |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | BACKGROUND: Gunshot suicides account for 2.5% of suicides in England and Wales. This amounts to more than 100 deaths per year. Information about such deaths may assist in the development of suicide prevention strategies. METHOD: We have examined coroners' inquest records for all gunshot suicides between 1st January 2000 and 31st December 2001 in 24 coroners' jurisdictions in England. RESULTS: Fifty-eight gunshot suicides were identified, including one homicide-suicide. Ninety-three per cent of cases were male. Sport or occupational usage was the main reason for owning the gun. Ten per cent were farmers or farm-workers. In 20% of cases the gun did not belong to the individual who used it for suicide. This was more likely in younger suicides. Seven (12.1%) individuals used illegally owned handguns. Large amounts of alcohol had been consumed before the act in nine cases. Nearly three-quarters (72.9%) of individuals with diagnostic information had a probable diagnosis of depression. However, only 22.4% had ever had contact with psychiatric services. Two shotgun certificate holders were under the care of psychiatric services at the time of their death and two others had a history of previous self-harm. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies to reduce the number of gunshot suicides need to focus on limiting access to guns. These include restricting access to guns by non-certificate holders and those who may be at increased risk of suicide, and holding regular gun amnesties. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T06:14:02Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:f07f6be2-fdea-4d46-a95a-195d3a5f4e86 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T06:14:02Z |
| publishDate | 2005 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:f07f6be2-fdea-4d46-a95a-195d3a5f4e862022-03-27T11:48:21ZGunshot suicides in England--a multicentre study based on coroners' records.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:f07f6be2-fdea-4d46-a95a-195d3a5f4e86EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2005Sutton, LHawton, KSimkin, STurnbull, PKapur, NBennewith, OGunnell, D BACKGROUND: Gunshot suicides account for 2.5% of suicides in England and Wales. This amounts to more than 100 deaths per year. Information about such deaths may assist in the development of suicide prevention strategies. METHOD: We have examined coroners' inquest records for all gunshot suicides between 1st January 2000 and 31st December 2001 in 24 coroners' jurisdictions in England. RESULTS: Fifty-eight gunshot suicides were identified, including one homicide-suicide. Ninety-three per cent of cases were male. Sport or occupational usage was the main reason for owning the gun. Ten per cent were farmers or farm-workers. In 20% of cases the gun did not belong to the individual who used it for suicide. This was more likely in younger suicides. Seven (12.1%) individuals used illegally owned handguns. Large amounts of alcohol had been consumed before the act in nine cases. Nearly three-quarters (72.9%) of individuals with diagnostic information had a probable diagnosis of depression. However, only 22.4% had ever had contact with psychiatric services. Two shotgun certificate holders were under the care of psychiatric services at the time of their death and two others had a history of previous self-harm. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies to reduce the number of gunshot suicides need to focus on limiting access to guns. These include restricting access to guns by non-certificate holders and those who may be at increased risk of suicide, and holding regular gun amnesties. |
| spellingShingle | Sutton, L Hawton, K Simkin, S Turnbull, P Kapur, N Bennewith, O Gunnell, D Gunshot suicides in England--a multicentre study based on coroners' records. |
| title | Gunshot suicides in England--a multicentre study based on coroners' records. |
| title_full | Gunshot suicides in England--a multicentre study based on coroners' records. |
| title_fullStr | Gunshot suicides in England--a multicentre study based on coroners' records. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gunshot suicides in England--a multicentre study based on coroners' records. |
| title_short | Gunshot suicides in England--a multicentre study based on coroners' records. |
| title_sort | gunshot suicides in england a multicentre study based on coroners records |
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