Use of age-adjusted rates of suicide in time series studies in Israel

Abstract

Durkheim's modified theory of suicide was examined to explore how consistent it was in predicting Israeli rates of suicide from 1965 to 1997 when using age-adjusted rates rather than crude ones. In this time-series study, Israeli male and female rates of suicide increased and decreased, respectively, between 1965 and 1997. Conforming to Durkheim's modified theory, the Israeli male rate of suicide was lower in years when rates of marriage and birth are higher, while rates of suicide are higher in years when rates of divorce are higher, the opposite to that of Israeli women. The corrected regression coefficients suggest that the Israeli female rate of suicide remained lower in years when rate of divorce is higher, again the opposite suggested by Durkheim's modified theory. These results may indicate that divorce affects the mental health of Israeli women as suggested by their lower rate of suicide. Perhaps the "multiple roles held by Israeli females creates suicidogenic stress" and divorce provides some sense of stress relief, mentally speaking. The results were not as consistent with predictions suggested by Durkheim's modified theory of suicide as were rates from the United States for the same period nor were they consistent with rates based on "crude" suicide data. Thus, using age-adjusted rates of suicide had an influence on the prediction of the Israeli rate of suicide during this period.