Project Details
Projekt
Association of daily changes in air temperature and other meteorological variables on suicide frequency in Bavaria
Applicant
Dr. Susanne Breitner-Busch
Subject Area
Epidemiology and Medical Biometry/Statistics
Term
from 2015 to 2017
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 280029397
Worldwide, seasonal patterns of suicides have been observed mainly with peaks in spring or early summer. Furthermore, increases in air temperature have been shown to be associated with an elevated number of suicides based on daily and monthly data. The impact of other meteorological variables such as relative humidity, barometric pressure, sunshine duration, or precipitation has also been investigated but with inconsistent findings. So far, studies on meteorology and suicide frequency have received little attention in Germany. Since everyone is exposed to meteorological conditions every day, research on the impact of meteorology on mental health is an important research topic. Elucidating risk factors for committing suicide are needed to develop appropriate intervention and treatment strategies which can help to prevent more of these tragic events in the future.In this project we plan to investigate the impact of daily meteorological conditions (e.g. air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, sunshine duration, cloud cover, and precipitation) on the risk of committing suicide based on mortality and meteorological data gathered in four Bavarian cities and eleven counties between 1990 and 2006. Our large database of about 10,000 suicides gathered during 17 years enables us furthermore to explore changes in seasonal patterns over time as well as potential modifiers of the meteorological effects such as gender, age, and regional characteristics. Therefore, we aim to clarify the link between meteorological variables and the risk of suicide and identify potentially susceptible subgroups as well as weather conditions (e.g. interaction between temperature and relative humidity), which might lead to an increase in suicides.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
