SEASONS AND METEOROLOGICAL FACTORS IN SUICIDAL-BEHAVIOR - FINDINGS AND METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS FROM A DANISH STUDY

This study is part of a joint venture project carried out by the Centr e for Suicidological Research, Odense, and the Danish Meteorological I nstitute, Copenhagen. The overall purpose of that project is to examin e the seasonality of suicidal behaviour and any covariations between s uicidal behaviour and the weather in the Scandinavian countries. The p roject will comprise studies involving parameters such as suicide and attempted suicide, temporal variations including weekdays, holidays, l unar phases, etc., and a variety of meteorological factors. In this ar ticle, which presents results from a pilot study based on Danish data (county of Funen), focus is on temporal variations (month, week) and c ovariations between suicide and meteorological factors and the methodo logical problems involved. The material comprises all deaths registere d as suicides in Funen (appr. 10% of Denmark) in the period 1970-1993, in all 2610 (age 15+). The meteorological data from the same period c onsists of daily information on precipitation, temperatures, wind velo cities, hours of sunlight, etc. The results confirm findings of severa l previous studies, especially concerning the spring peak and a decrea sing tendency throughout the week with significantly fewer suicides on weekends. Our findings indicate that climatological factors, e.g., ch anging weather, also to some extent might have an impact on suicidal b ehaviour. Weather may not be a major factor, but it needs, however, to be taken seriously and into account, when considering the etiology of suicide.