Patterns of suicide by jumping from height in Northern Tunisia: a 16-year autopsy study

Background

Suicide by jumping from height is a violent and relatively common method of suicide. There is little data on suicide by jumping from height in the Arab region and North African countries. In this study, we aim to analyze the patterns of suicide by jumping from height in Northern Tunisia.

Methods

Autopsy records of all cases of suicide by jumping from height were included over a period of 16 years (January 2005 to December 2020). The collected data included epidemiological characteristics, medical history and autopsy observations.

Results

we collected a total of 147 cases of suicide by jumping from height. Among the cases, 69.4 % were men. The average age of the cases was 41.8 ± 16.4 years (range 15–85 years). A history of psychiatric disorder was reported in 58.5 % of cases. Schizophrenia was the most common psychiatric diagnosis (23.8 %), followed by depression (13.6 %). Among the cases, 27.9 % had a history of previous suicide attempt. The suicidal fall occurred most frequently in a private residence (70.8 %). The average height of the falls was 10.4 ± 7.3 m (range 2–50 m). The most frequent injury site was determined to be the head (70.1 %) followed by the chest (68 %), the spine (56 %). Skeletal trauma mainly included fractures of the ribs (75.5 %), the spine (56 %), the skull (53.5 %) and the pelvis (29.3 %).

Conclusions

Suicide by jumping from height is most common in young unemployed men, with psychiatric history, who jump from a private residence. This pattern would help planning preventive strategies.