Background: suicide is a problem with world impact and the leading cause of premature deaths. The study of its distribution over time can bring a changed understanding of parameters attributed to, and the prevention of, suicide.
Aim: to identify the temporal pattern of suicide by systematic review.
Methods: Pubmed (Medline), LILACS, Virtual Health Library (VHL), Science Direct and Scopus (Elsevier), Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) and PsyNET (APA) were searched, using suicide-related descriptors and terms, for observational epidemiological studies of the temporal distribution of suicide. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42016038470).
Limitations: The lack of uniformity in reporting or standardisation of methodology in the studies selected, hindered comparison of populations with similar socioeconomic and cultural profiles, considerably limiting the scope of the results of this review.
Results: forty-five studies from 26 different countries were included in this review. Clear seasonal patterns were observed by day of the week, month, season and age-period-cohort effects. Few studies studied by trend, time of day or day of the month.
Conclusion: the review findings provide further evidence of substantial temporal patterns influenced by geographic, climatic and social conditions.
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