suicide rates were associated with availability of firearms

What is it about?

Objective: Suicide by firearm is the most common suicide method of young men in Switzerland. Between March 2003 and end of February 2004, the number of Swiss soldiers was halved due to an army reform (Army XXI), leading to decreased availability of guns nationwide. We investigated the pattern of general suicide rate and the suicide rate by shooting before and after the Army XXI invention. Method: Using a naturalistic study design, we compared suicide rates before (1995 to 2003) and after the intervention (2004 to 2008) among the affected population (men aged 18 to 43) and compared these to two control groups. Data was retrieved from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Interrupted Time Series methodology was applied to control for temporal trends already in existence, such as unemployment rates. Alternative methods (Poisson regression, autocorrelation analysis and surrogate data tests) were used to check validity.

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Why is it important?

Results: We found a reduction in the suicide rates by shooting and the general suicide rate after the Army XXI intervention. No significant increases were found for other suicide methods as a whole. An increase in railway suicides was found accounting for 22% of the reduction of shooting suicides: thus only a weak substitution effect. The attenuation of suicide rate was not compensated in follow-up years. None of the control groups (women aged 18 to 44 and men aged 44 to 53) showed statistically significant changes in suicide by shooting and in their general suicide rates.

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