Death due to hanging: a retrospective descriptive study of the socio-economic and demographic profiles of hanging victims in central South Africa
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Date
2020-02
Authors
Smith, Zandre
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Purpose Hanging by the neck is the leading method of suicide globally. Practitioners of forensic medicine are in a unique position to study the epidemiological risk factors for suicidal hanging. This information can be used to construct a sociodemographic profile of victims of hanging. This study aimed to describe the socioeconomic and demographic profiles of hanging victims in Bloemfontein for the period between 1 January 2008 and 31 January 2015. The socioeconomic and demographic profile can then be used in the future to identify those individuals who are at the highest risk of committing suicide by hanging for a referral to a suicide prevention programs. Method A retrospective descriptive study was performed using data from the Bloemfontein Forensic Mortuary. Results During the study period, 9085 autopsies were performed at the Bloemfontein Forensic Mortuary. Three hundred and fifty-five (355) hanging victims were identified and included in the study. This number accounted for 3.91% of the total amount of autopsies performed. The median age of hanging victims were 31.39 years, with an age range of 11 to 78. The majority of cases (38.92%) were in the age group of between 21 and 30 years. Men predominated the study population at 90.99%. In our study, 63.94% of the individuals were single, and 56.62% of the individuals were unemployed. Of our study population, 36,34% completed their high school education. The most common location where the victims of hanging were found was at home. Conclusion Males between the ages of 21 to 40, who are single and unemployed are at the highest risk for committing suicide by hanging. The population group at the lowest risk appears to be individuals who are older than 60 years of age, people who are married, people who are employed, and those with tertiary education. These results offer the first sociodemographic profile of individuals who die due to hanging in central South Africa. It calls for the implementation of a National Suicide Prevention Program via a multidisciplinary team approach.
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Keywords
Hanging, Suicides, Suicide prevalence, Suicide prevention, Suicide trends, Suicide methods, Autopsy, Mortality, Asphyxia, South Africa, Dissertation (M.Med (Forensic Medicine))--University of the Free State, 2020 , Forensic pathology