People who live in areas with high altitudes clearly have a high risk of suicide

Suicide rate is high in high latitude (cold area)Although it has been told from long ago that altitude as well as the latitude of the place of residence may be one of the risk factors of suicide.

The statistics of the data of the US suicide from 5,967,04 in the 20 years from 1979 to 1998 revealed that suicide rates are higher for counties (counties) with higher average altitude. Suicide risk factors such as age and gender (suicide rate in men is high), race (suicide rate in white people is high), income, etc. After correcting for various factors related to suicide risk, the suicide rate is higher as highlands, "Guns in mountainous areas It is said that it can not explain by social factors such as "ownership rate is high" and "remote from home".

Details are as below.Suicide Risk Greater for People Living at Higher Elevations, According to New Study in High Altitude Medicine & Biology

University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio (Case · Western · Reserve UniversityDr. Barry Brenner et al. Of the university hospital etc of the United States analyzed the relationship between altitude and suicide rate by using the data of the cause of death from 1979 to 1998 of the 2548 counties of the United States. Thesis isHigh Altitude Medicine & amp; BiologyIt is published in the magazine.


Among 42,881,800 people who died in the United States from 1979 to 1998, the number of suicide people was 596,704 (1.4%). Combined all causes of deathMortality rateIn contrast to the average correlation between the average altitude and the mortality rate of the county (the death rate is lower as the altitude is higher), only the suicide shows a strong positive correlation between altitude and mortality rate (higher suicide rate It is said that it was seen.

After correcting factors such as the age of each county (the proportion of 50 or more in the population), sex (proportion of men), race (proportion of white people), median income of households, population density, etc., suicide rate Graph of the number of suicides in 100,000 people on the horizontal axis and the average altitude (vertical axis: feet).


In addition, while the average altitude of 50 counties with the highest suicide rate (average suicide number 30.5 / 100,000 people) was 4684 feet (about 1419 m), 50 counts with the lowest suicide rate (7.2 / 100 thousand People) had an average of 582 feet (about 176 m), and it is known that the suicide rate is particularly high among the nation originallyMountain Region(25.5 / 100 thousand people) had an average altitude of 2075 feet (about 629 m), the suicide rate lower 50 (25.5 / 100 thousand), even though excluding the six suicide rates (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming) The average of the counties (7.3 / 100 thousand) was 497 feet (about 150 m) at the average, and the tendency for the county with high suicide rate to concentrate on the highlands was remarkable.

59% of the suicides in the last 20 years were suicides by firearms, but only the suicides by firearms showed that the top 50 suicide rates (average suicide number 22.6 / 100,000 people) had an average altitude of 4098 The feet (about 1242 m), the suicide rate lower 50 counties (2.9 / 100 thousand) had an average altitude of 324 feet (about 98 m). Although it is thought that "The high rate of ownership of firearms in mountainous areas is involved in the high suicide rate in highlands", even if you see only suicide not based on firearms, A meaningful correlation between altitude and suicide rate was still found, with an average altitude of 3699 feet (about 1121 m) for 50 counties (10.0 / 100 thousand people) and 954 feet (about 289 m) for the lower 50 counties (0.8 / 100 thousand people) It seems that it can not explain the high suicide rate in the highland just by the high firearm ownership rate.

In addition, 484 counties out of the 2548 counties were excluded as statistically unreliable data because the number of suicide in 20 years was less than 20, but analyzed similarly including data of these 484 counts After all, a positive correlation between altitude and suicide rate was seen.

The reason why the suicide rate is high in the highlands is not clear, but because it can not explain by social factors such as average income and firearm ownership rate alone,HypoxiaIt is suggested that there may be other biological factors involved. It is hoped that further research will be undertaken and that medical personnel will be able to intervene such as "Obesity Risk High People" at the high altitude, suggesting oxygen therapy and relocation.