Leo Sher, M.D.

My research article, “Relation between rates of suicide in 15-24-year-olds and per capita consumption of alcohol beverages in European countries” was published 15 years ago in the July-September 2005 issue of the International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health (1).

In this study, I examined the relation between rates of suicide in 15-24-year-olds and per capita consumption of alcohol beverages in European countries (Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and United Kingdom). Data on suicide rates in 15-24-year-olds and per capita consumption of alcohol beverages were obtained from the World Health Organization databases.

Correlations were computed to examine relationships between suicide rates in 15-24-year-old males and females and per capita consumption of beer, wine, and spirits in the general population in 34 European countries. There was a negative correlation between suicide rates in 15-24-year-old males and per capita consumption of wine. There was also a trend towards a negative correlation between suicide rates in 15-24-year-old females and per capita consumption of wine. No correlations between suicide rates in 15-24-year-olds and per capita consumption of beer or spirits were found. In the whole population (all ages), suicide rates in males were negatively correlated with consumption of wine and positively correlated with consumption of spirits. As expected, suicide rates in males were significantly higher than in females. It is possible that the observed relationship is a result of a third factor affecting both suicide rates in 15-24-year-olds and consumption of wine.

Reference

1. Sher L. Relation between rates of suicide in 15-24-year-olds and per capita consumption of alcohol beverages in European countries. Int J Adolesc Med Health. 2005;17(3):291-294. doi:10.1515/ijamh.2005.17.3.279