Spatiotemporal clustering of suicide attempt in Kermanshah, West-Iran

Alireza Zangeneh; Nahid Khademi; Naser Farahmandmoghadam; Arash Ziapour; Reyhane Naderlou; Somayyeh Shalchi Oghli; Raziyeh Teimouri; Komali Yenneti; Shahrzad Moghadam

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1174071

Spatiotemporal clustering of suicide attempt in Kermanshah, West-Iran

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Jul 31:14:1174071. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1174071. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Alireza Zangeneh¹, Nahid Khademi², Naser Farahmandmoghadam³, Arash Ziapour⁴, Reyhane Naderlou⁵, Somayyeh Shalchi Oghli⁶, Raziyeh Teimouri⁷, Komali Yenneti⁸, Shahrzad Moghadam⁵

Affiliations

¹ Social Development and Health Promotion Research Center, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
² Medical Ethics and History of Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
³ Clinical Research Development Center, Imam Khomeini and Mohammad Kermanshahi Hospitals, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
⁴ Cardiovascular Research Center, Health Institute, Imam-Ali Hospital, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
⁵ Geography and Urban Planning, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran.
⁶ Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁷ UniSA Creative, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
⁸ School of Architecture and the Built Environment, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Background: A suicide attempt is a major societal problem because it imposes high costs on societies worldwide. This paper analyses the spatiotemporal clustering of suicide attempt in Kermanshah, Iran from 2006-14.

Methods: This study draws on 18,333 individuals (7,234 males and 11,097 females) who attempted suicide across the Kermanshah province. Data was collected from the records of individuals registered in hospitals across the Kermanshah province between 2006 and 2014. Mean Center, Standard Deviational Ellipse (SDE), Moran's I and Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) in Arc/GIS10.6 software were used for the analysis of the spatial distribution of suicide attempt, while the chi-squared test in SPSS was used to examine the different demographic variables between groups within/outside spatial clusters of suicide.

Results: The results show that a total of 18,331 suicide attempts (39.46% male and 60.53% female) were reported between 2006 and 2014 in the Kermanshah province. The spatial pattern of suicide attempts was clustered in 16 clusters (6 high clusters and 10 low clusters) and statistically significant differences were found within and outside the hotspots of suicide attempts. Most hot spots were formed in and around cities. Younger people were at a greater risk. The rate of suicide attempts reduced in illiterate people and increased in people with university degrees. Unmarried people were associated with a higher risk of suicide attempt than was married status for both males and females.

Conclusion: The results of this study could help public health practitioners and policymakers in Iran prioritize resources and target efforts for suicide attempt prevention.

Keywords: Iran; Kermanshah; geographic information system; spatial analysis; spatial pattern of suicide; suicide attempts.