Comment on Zekeri (2007)

Abstract

Zekeri's comments (2007) on Bridges and Kunselman's work (2005) were not sufficiently grounded in sociological theory, the calculation of the "rates of potential years of life lost" (PYLL) was modified but unreported, and the use of PYLL, despite limitations as a measure of premature mortality "was not justified." The theoretical framework, however, consisted of "environmental" and "social group" statements which gave a specific means for grounding "premature mortality" in sociological theory, and findings were consistent with Lester's social deviancy theory of suicide (1989). How the "rates of PYLL" were calculated, i.e., by the Canadian government is misinterpreted, although Allard, et al. (2004) provided justification for the use of age-standardized rates of PYLL in their 2005 study.