NCJ Number
186423
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 45 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2000 Pages: 1256-1258
Date Published
November 2000
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This study retrospectively reviewed all suicide cases referred to the Medical Examiners' Office/Forensic Pathology Section at the Medical University of South Carolina from January 1988 to December 1997.
Abstract
There were 678 cases. All the cases were analyzed for age/race/gender; method of suicide; time of year; and toxicological results. Files were also reviewed to determine whether the victim left a suicide note. The ages of the suicide victims ranged from 12 to 94 years; males comprised 79.5 percent of the victims, and whites composed 78.3 percent of the sample. The male to female and white to black ratios were both 3.9:1. The most common method used to commit suicide was a gun, which accounted for 64.6 percent of the cases. There was no correlation with time of year, and the number of cases did not increase around major holidays. The group of victims 65 years and older as well as the pediatric groups under the age of 18 were also examined separately. A note was documented in only 22 percent of the cases, suggesting that the absence of a suicide note should not preclude a ruling of suicide in a death investigation. Ethanol was identified in 38 percent of the victims, and 21 percent were legally intoxicated. Toxicological analysis yielded 26 percent of the sample as positive for nicotine; however, since nicotine may be an effective self-medication in some depressed individuals, the positive finding for nicotine in suicide victims was not unexpected. Surprisingly, only 19 percent of the victims had a documented psychiatric history. The lack of such a history, therefore, should not preclude a ruling of suicide in a death investigation. 3 tables and 9 references