Table.
Proportion of suicides by psychiatric morbidity, and method of suicide among different occupational groups. Values are numbers (percentages). Test for significance is Pearson's χ2 test unless stated otherwise
| Occupation | Admission due to psychosis* | Median (interquartile range) | Admission due to alcohol or drug misuse | Admission due to any psychiatric disorder | Violent method of suicide† |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior position or high level of education (n=87) | 15 (17.2) | 127 (51-226) | 5 (5.7) | 31 (35.6) | 57 (65.5) |
| Other worker (n=729) | 71 (9.7) | 88 (30-261) | 60 (8.2) | 293 (40.2) | 519 (71.2) |
| Self employed (n=43) | 3 (7.0) | 49 | 4 (9.3) | 15 (34.9) | 33 (76.7) |
| Farmer (n=69) | 7 (10.1) | 22 (18-90) | 5 (7.2) | 22 (31.9) | 60 (87.0) |
| Unskilled or unemployed (n=188) | 33 (17.6) | 106 (24.5-209) | 20 (10.6) | 80 (42.6) | 137 (72.9) |
| Student (n=98) | 7 (7.1) | 31 (23-92) | 5 (5.1) | 22 (22.4) | 86 (87.8) |
| Retired (n=371) | 119 (32.1) | 121 (44-536) | 41 (11.1) | 223 (60.1) | 267 (72.0) |
| Total (n=1585) | 255 (16.1) | 95 (31-95) | 140 (8.8) | 686 (43.3) | 1159 (73.1) |
| Significance test | χ2=102.7, df=6, P<0.001 | χ2=12.52, df=6, P=0.051‡ | χ2=6.3, df=6, P=0.390 | χ2=69.9, df=6, P<0.001 | χ2=21.9, df=6, P=0.001 |
*
Definition of psychosis was identical with that of Agerbo et al.1 †Hanging, drowning, shooting, wrist cutting, jumping from a height. ‡Kruksal-Wallis one way analysis of variance, by ranks.